Baidu Inc, the country's top search engine, said Wednesday it will continue to fight against piracy, after the US removed it from a list of notorious markets for piracy in reward to the company's efforts to clean up its music services.

Baidu, which has been on the notorious markets list for years, in July signed an agreement with music companies including Universal Music Group and Sony Corp to pay owners of copyrighted material on its music platform, the Office of the US Trade Representative said in a report Tuesday.

The Notorious Markets List identifies selected markets, including ones on the Internet, that are reportedly engaged in piracy and counterfeiting, according to the report.

"Regardless of the report, we've been making long-term efforts to combat piracy in sectors including music and e-books for the interests of our clients and the Internet industry," Zhu Guang, vice president of Baidu, told the Global Times.

Shares of Baidu closed up 6.24 percent at $118.4 in the NASDAQ trading Tuesday.

However, taobao.com, China's leading online retailer, is still on the list for offering a wide range of counterfeit products. "While stakeholders report that Taobao continues to make significant efforts to address the problem, they recognize that much remains to be done," the report said.

Hu Guanzhong, a spokesman for taobao.com, declined to comment on the report Wednesday, but told the Global Times that they have been working on combating counterfeiting.

"Counterfeit products sold on taobao.com have hurt the sales of many US brands such as Coach in China," said Zhou Binqing, a legal expert at the Shanghai Information Services Association. "Though the report is mainly based on the US interests, it does include some facts and could damage listed companies' global reputation."

The US report also cited two Chinese websites Sogou MP3 and Gougou as providing deep linking services to allegedly infringing material.

Four of the 15 physical notorious markets on the list are located in China, including Silk Market in Beijing and national electronics chain Buynow PC Mall.