Alibabastrengthenstieswithcarrier

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is likely to work closely with China Mobile Communications Corp on data sharing, mobile payment and rural business, a senior executive fromAlibaba said on Tuesday.

Hu Xiaoming, president of Alibaba Cloud, the firm’s cloud computing unit, said the partnership between the two firms “is no longer a tie between an internet firm and a telecom carrier. Instead, it is a thriving relationship between two ecosystems”.

Hu made the comments at the China Mobile Global Partners Conference in Guangzhou. The two companies inked a deal earlier this month, promising close cooperation in basic telecommunication services, information

infrastructure, marketing and emerging sectors.

According to Hu, however, it is possible for Alibaba to open its membership system, which has more than 600 million users, to China Mobile, in exchange for access to the latter’s 850 million subscribers.

“Our membership system can be linked with China Mobile’s subscriber system, enabling the free flow of data which can help offer better online credit services,” he said.

Also, the two sides can make joint efforts to grow business in rural areas, giving China Mobile’s sprawling presence in the countryside and Alibaba’s ability to promote rural e-commerce.