Alibaba Group has signed a strategic agreement with Shanghai Media Group to leverage both companies’ Internet technology and media resources to penetrate China’s financial information services industry.
As part of the agreement, Alibaba Group intends to invest RMB1.2 billion (US$193.6 million) into China Business News (CBN), a leading Chinese financial media company under SMG, to create a financial data and information services company that will help Chinese small and medium enterprises tap a rich mine of financial data.
By using Alibaba Group’s big data and cloud computing capabilities, both companies will jointly develop a comprehensive financial data and information platform that will provide users with timely financial news and information in order to enhance their investment and financial decision-making capabilities.
The aim of this platform is to raise the bar on enterprise efficiency in China by leveling the information playing field. By giving a greater number of Chinese enterprises access to precious financial data that can be easily mined and analysed for actionable investment and business decisions, this platform is expected to help these enterprises scale and expand their businesses.
Currently, Alipay and CBN are collaborating to provide users with stock quote information and CBN’s wealth management information product will also soon launch on Mobile Taobao. Alipay is part of Ant Financial Services Group, a related party of Alibaba Group. Alibaba Group and SMG will also work toward enhancing digital and traditional media convergence in the industry through the launch of innovative new media products for the market.
“The era of Data Technology is here and it will surpass the Information Technology era. The DT era is about transparency, sharing of information and enabling others. Alibaba is excited about the possibilities of the DT era and how it can bring value to society,” said Alibaba Group founder and executive chairman Jack Ma.
This strategic agreement with SMG is expected to help Alibaba Group develop DT-era products and services to enrich the lives of Chinese users, be it in academia, business or media sectors.
Through this tie-up, CBN is well-poised to expand its financial media information services and continue to innovate in China’s traditional financial media industry. CBN is China’s leading financial media group with a variety of media assets, such as television, radio, newspaper, magazine and news agencies.
