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.