Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is to launch an online shopping business in the US.

Alibaba, through its subsidiaries Vendio and Auctiva, will launch a shopping site 11 Main to offer products from “hand-picked shop owners”.

“Alibaba is happy to support 11 Main. Alibaba is run by entrepreneurs and firmly believes in supporting entrepreneurs with great vision and a strong sense of mission for their companies,” said a company spokeswoman.

Alibaba has recently been making significant investments, including in web sports retailer Fanatics, Internet mapping company Autonavi and apps search engine Quixey, to boost its existing businesses. It also led a $206 million investment in US online retailer ShopRunner.

The company is also preparing to file an IPO this year which could value it at around $140 billion.