Chinese tech giant Baidu will sell one-third of its shares in Ctrip, the country’s largest online travel platform, financial news outlet Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Based on Ctrip’s current share price, the sale will generate around $1 billion, with Baidu expected to use the capital to cope with the current economic slowdown and increased competition in its core advertising business, Bloomberg analysts said. Ctrip confirmed the sale Friday to reporters with The Paper, Sixth Tone’s sister publication.

In 2015, Baidu acquired one-quarter of Ctrip through a share swap that required the search giant to drop its stake in Ctrip rival Qunar. As of the end of August, Baidu held 17.87% of Ctrip’s shares, according to The Paper. Even after the sale, Baidu will remain the travel site’s biggest shareholder.

Baidu has been diversifying its business in recent months amid economic uncertainty caused by increased government scrutiny of its advertising business and by the China-U.S. trade war. In August, Baidu and three other companies jointly invested $434 million in Zhihu, China’s Quora-like question-and-answer platform. (Image: VCG)