Alibaba, China Mobile weigh $443m investment in blacklisted Dahua

HONG KONG: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd are considering investing 3 billion yuan ($443 million) in Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co Ltd, three people with knowledge of the matter said. Dahua, China's second-largest surveillance equipment maker, is among Chinese tech firms that Washington last year placed on a blacklist of companies it said helped Beijing monitor and detain Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. Those blacklisted cannot buy U.S. technology without U.S. government approval.

E-commerce leader Alibaba and top telecommunications group China Mobile plan to jointly invest in Shenzhen-listed Dahua - which has a market capitalisation of $10.3 billion - via a private share placement in coming weeks, the people said. China Mobile is also negotiating a three-year business agreement with Dahua worth 40 billion yuan, said two of the people, who declined to be identified as the plans are private.

The agreement would give China Mobile use of Dahua's big data and cloud computing services, video surveillance equipment and Internet of Things (IoT) technology, they said. The business agreement and investment plan are reported here for the first time. Neither China Mobile nor Alibaba responded to requests for comment. Dahua said it did not have any information on the matter. The deals would come as the government builds over 500 smart cities featuring the world's most sophisticated surveillance technology networks.