Alibaba and Tencent to Open up Services to Each Other
China’s two online competitors, Alibaba and Tencent, are gradually considering opening up their services to each other, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday.
Alibaba‘s plans to introduce Tencent‘s WeChat Pay to its own e-commerce platforms, Taobao and Tmall. In return, Tencent may allow Alibaba‘s e-commerce information to be shared on WeChat or allow WeChat users to use some of Alibaba‘s services through its mini programs.
Both companies did not respond for comment.
Tencent and Alibab have always been strong competitors.
On November 22, 2013, WeChat users found, by clicking on any Taobao link in WeChat, they would automatically be re-directed to the download page of the Taobao app.
In February 2015, many merchants reported that stores opened through WeChat platform could not use Alipay.
The relationship between these two tech giants seems less intense these days. Previously, a Special Edition of Taobao and a second-hand trading platform, Xianyu, have submitted applications to be listed under WeChat’s mini programs, which have yet to be accepted.
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Under the supervision of Chinese government, the competitive strategies of both parties must be adjusted. Alibaba has been heavily fined 18.2 billion yuan, while the merger of Tencent‘s Huya and Douyu was stopped directly by the market regulator.
