Wanda Tie-Up With UnionPay

Dalian Wanda Group Co., one of China’s largest business conglomerates, signed a strategic partnership with China UnionPay on March 2 as it speeds up efforts to integrate its offline and online resources.

According to the agreement, Wanda and its partner merchants will accept UnionPay QuickPass, a mobile payment service, and the two parties will jointly develop a UnionPay cardholder service system and applications that will be available at Wanda’s wide-ranging properties, including shopping malls, department stores, supermarkets and theme parks.

They will also jointly expand customer service channels, carry out marketing campaigns, and explore value-added services for consumers both at home and in overseas regions.

“The strategic cooperation with Wanda will explore new formats for commercial-financial integration and boost consumption upgrading,” said Ge Huayong, Chairman of China UnionPay.

As part of the strategic cooperation, China UnionPay’s subsidiary, Shanghai Lianyin Investment Co. Ltd., will acquire a stake in the Wanda Internet Technology Group.

Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin said joining hands with China UnionPay is a major step forward for Shanghai Ffan E-commerce Co. Ltd., Wanda’s e-commerce platform and a subsidiary of Wanda Internet Technology Group.

“I expect Ffan E-commerce to be profitable next year and to see profit exceeding 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) by 2020,” Wang said at Wanda Group’s annual meeting in January.

The company will start a new round of financing in the third quarter, Wang said on March 2. managers’ index (PMI) came in at 51.6 percent in February, 0.3 percentage points higher than that recorded in January, according to data released on March 1 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 reflects contraction.

NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe said the reading has remained above 51 percent for five months in a row now and pointed to a steady expansion of the manufacturing sector.

The sub-index for production was 53.7 percent, 0.6 percentage points higher than that recorded in January.

The sub-index for new orders was up 0.2 percentage points to 53 percent.

Zhao attributed the acceleration in production and new orders to the recovery in market demand and robust production activities.

In addition, the sub-index for the equipment manufacturing sector expanded to a three-year high of 53.3 percent, 1.7 percentage points higher than the overall manufacturing industry.