Mideast online retailer noon.com expands to China

DUBAI: Middle East online retail upstart noon. com said it was expanding into China, seeking partners in the country’s flourishing e- commerce industry to help it compete with Amazon in its home markets.

The US$ 1 billion internet retailer said it has launched its Asia operations with two entities in mainland China and Hong Kong.

“China’s booming e- commerce market has one of the most active marketplaces in the world,” noon. com founder Mohammed Alabbar said.

The firm plans to establish a “trusted network of high- quality Chinese brand owners,” to bring the best range of products to its customers in the Middle East.

Noon. com was launched in October by Dubai- based giant property developer Emaar in association with state- owned Saudi Public Investment Fund and a number of leading Gulf investors.

Its launch came a few months after global retail giant Amazon acquired the region’s biggest online retailer, Dubaibased Souq. com, for US$ 650 million.

Noon. com currently makes deliveries to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the region’s largest economies.

Last month, the firm said it had signed a partnership agreement with eBay to allow online shoppers to buy products from the United States and other parts of the world. — AFP