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Tag: Alibaba

  • Alibaba wins a battle against China but a war would have a different ending

    Alibaba wins a battle against China but a war would have a different ending

    Jack Ma, 1. China, 0. That seems to be the score in the unusually public tussle between the Alibaba billionaire and Beijing. Rarely does a mainland magnate push back when the Communist Party questions its business practices and ethics, and certainly not in the glare of the global news media.

    But Ma is standing his ground, and the government has toned down its criticism of Alibaba selling fake goods on its e-commerce site.

    This is not a sign that life is generally improving for private business in China, however. Alibaba is unique. Beijing loves a homegrown success story, and there’s none better than Ma’s fabled rise from schoolteacher to Asia’s richest man.

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  • Alibaba Group sets up HK foundation for young entrepreneurs

    Alibaba Group sets up HK foundation for young entrepreneurs

    The Alibaba Group has established a HKD1-billion (USD128.9 million) not-for-profit Alibaba Hong Kong Young Entrepreneurs Foundation to support young entrepreneurs in Hong Kong.

    The goal is to help young people start and grow businesses on marketplaces and platforms in the Alibaba ecosystem. Entrepreneurs will have access to financial capital, technical assistance and training.

    The selection and funding process will be managed by a team of professional investment managers and operating advisors who will work closely with these young entrepreneurs in their companies’ early stages.

    Profits generated from these venture investments will be returned to the foundation for re-investment.

    “We hope to create life-changing opportunities so that Hong Kong’s young people have an opportunity to build thriving businesses that will serve as a bridge between Hong Kong and mainland China,” said Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group.

    In addition, the foundation will also select 200 young people each year from Hong Kong universities to intern at Alibaba Group and other businesses within the Alibaba ecosystem. This will give an opportunity to university graduates to gain first-hand experience working in mainland China.

     

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  • China’s commerce regulator meets Alibaba’s Ma Yun

    China’s commerce regulator meets Alibaba’s Ma Yun

    The head of China’s commerce regulator met with Alibaba’s chairman Ma Yun on Friday to exchange opinions on joint efforts to fight fake products.

    During the meeting, Zhang Mao, minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), reaffirmed Alibaba’s positive efforts in safeguarding consumer rights, purifying the business environment and promoting self-discipline.

    Meanwhile, there are currently some problems haunting online shopping platforms, Zhang said, adding that the SAIC should find new ways of supervision and set up a mechanism for communication and interaction in an effort to promote the healthy growth of internet economy.

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  • Alibaba arm seeks to use police face scans to open bank accounts

    Alibaba arm seeks to use police face scans to open bank accounts

    Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s financial arm is seeking regulatory approval to access the Chinese national police’s database so consumers can open online bank accounts with a mug shot.

    The financial arm, which operates the PayPal-like Alipay service, is planning to use the Face++ facial recognition system developed by partner Megvii Inc. The idea is that this would allow consumers to set up accounts without having to physically go to a bank,

    Megvii Chief Executive Officer Yin Qi said in a recent interview.
    “In terms of technology, everything has been sorted,” said Yin, 27, who dropped out of Columbia University’s doctorate program in computer science to co-found Beijing-based Megvii, whose latest round of funding values the company at US$100 million. “We are just waiting for regulators to approve.” The plan helps illustrate how Alibaba is joining the likes of Facebook Inc, Google Inc. and Baidu Inc. in embracing biometric technologies and artificial intelligence. Megvii’s application uses facial scans held in a Ministry of Public Security database drawn from legal identification files on about 1.3 billion Chinese.

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  • Alibaba sales soar 40%

    Alibaba sales soar 40%

    Chinese eCommerce giant Alibabahas reported a 40 per cent increase in sales in the quarter to December.

    But its net profit for the period plunged 28 per cent to $US964 million impacted by a one off charge and higher taxes.

    Based in Hangzhou, Alibaba owns China’s most popular online trading platform, Taobao.

    Alibaba Group’s total sales for the quarter reached $US4.219 billion, and earnings per share rose 13 per cent to 81 US cents.

    The company executed the world’s biggest IPO when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange last September.

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  • Alibaba invests in AdChina

    Alibaba invests in AdChina

    Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will take a majority stake in AdChina, which calls itself China’s leading digital marketing platform, to develop online and mobile marketing, the internet powerhouse says.

    Alibaba had made a strategic investment in AdChina, it said in a statement, without giving the amount.

    An Alibaba spokeswoman said financial details were not disclosed.

    Alibaba, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange last year, said the deal would allow the company to grow its online and mobile marketing “ecosystem”.

    The two companies will also develop online marketing services and data marketing products for businesses, media clients and third party service providers, the statement said.

    Alibaba is often described as the Chinese version of eBay, and like the US company has its own payments system.

    It has no product stocks itself, instead connecting buyers and sellers.

    The company’s consumer to consumer platform, Taobao, is estimated to hold more than 90 per cent of the Chinese market with more than 800 million product listings and around 500 million registered users.

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  • Alibaba, Tencent spend billions in race to be China’s one-stop online shop

    Alibaba, Tencent spend billions in race to be China’s one-stop online shop

    Alibaba and Tencent spent more than USD8 billion last year alone backing often strikingly similar ventures, as the Chinese Internet giants race to create online one-stop-shops to win the digital loyalty of a tenth of the world’s population.

    Before China became the biggest smartphone market, there was little overlap between the businesses of e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, social networking firm Tencent Holdings Ltd and search engine provider Baidu Inc.

    Now, as more and more Chinese use their phones for everything from shopping to booking restaurants, the three companies are increasingly stepping over each other – and investing in the same services – to attract the same users.

  • Alibaba invests in Israeli QR code firm

    Alibaba invests in Israeli QR code firm

    Alibaba said on Tuesday that it has made an unspecified investment in Israeli startup Visualead as the e-commerce giant seeks to leverage the latest QR code technology.

    Visualead will use the capital from Alibaba to develop the next stage of “offline-to-online” technology.

    The investment marks Alibaba Group’s first in an Israeli company as the Middle East country boasts prolific technology startups.

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  • Microsoft partners with Alibaba to enhance IP protection for its products

    Microsoft partners with Alibaba to enhance IP protection for its products

    An agreement between Microsoft (China) and Alibaba Group Holding Limited (Alibaba Group) is expected to enhance the protection of Microsoft’s intellectual property rights (IPR) on the two most popular e-commerce platforms in China operated by Alibaba – Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com.

    The cooperation is also expected to strengthen anti-counterfeit measures already in place on both platforms.

    Both sides said they will work to raise awareness among consumers about the threats posed by counterfeit and unlicensed software to their information security, privacy and personal data.

    Tim Cranton, Microsoft’s Associate General Counsel and Greater China Region’s Chief Legal Counsel, said legitimate businesses and innovators in China will also benefit from a safer and more robust e-commerce marketplace with safeguards to protect intellectual property rights.

    Under the agreement, Taobao and Tmall will remove product listings suspected of offering counterfeit or unlicensed Microsoft products. Alibaba Group and its associated companies like Alipay will cooperate with relevant parties and provide necessary information to those consumers who mistakenly buy unauthorized software to receive compensation from the sellers according to relevant laws.

    Microsoft’s cooperation with Alibaba Group dates back to April 2007 when Microsoft signed a memorandum of understanding with Alisoft as the two parties joined hands in providing information service for small- and medium-sized businesses.

    In December 2013, Microsoft launched its flagship online store on Tmall.com, the largest e-commerce platform in China with to promote genuine Microsoft software.

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  • Tmall growing out of Taobao’s ‘little brother’ role

    Tmall growing out of Taobao’s ‘little brother’ role

    Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has for the first time unveiled the trade details of its major global business unit Tmall Global, revealing a tenfold increase since it was founded 10 months ago, reports the Shanghai-based China Business News.

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