Two Chinese search engines, both backed by national media organizations, will merge in the near future, sources said.

Panguso.com, an Internet search engine jointly launched in 2011 by Xinhua News Agency and the nation's biggest telecom operator, China Mobile Ltd, is expected to form a new company with Jike.com, which was set up by the People's Daily newspaper two years ago, said a source with knowledge of the matter, who wished to remain anonymous.

"Chinese authorities have been pushing forward the merger for a while, but hope to keep it low profile," said the source.