Alibaba Buys 8 Percent Stake in Popular Chinese Video Platform Bilibili

As if making a marriage announcement on Feb. 14, Alibaba Group announced that it will be deepening its cooperation with the popular Chinese video platform Bilibili.

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According to Xinhua News, the e-commerce conglomerate’s retail arm Taobao bought 24 million shares of Bilibili, owning an 8 percent stake. Taobao will own 24 million shares in Bilibili which became listed on Nasdaq in March last year.

According to the announcement, thanks to a more personalized commercialization plan, numerous original content creators are now carrying their content from Bilibili onto Taobao for additional exposure.

Bilibili CEO and chairman Chen Rui has expressed hopes that the collaboration would help boost the popularity of Bilibili users by leveraging on Taobao’s huge platform.

Earlier in December 2018, the two sides announced they had entered into a business collaboration agreement, under which Bilibili and Taobao were expected to develop a dynamic ecosystem that would better connect creators, merchandise, and users on both platforms.

“I believe our cooperation will further unleash Bilibili‘s commercial potential. I hope our collaboration will allow the world to see the creativity of young Chinese creators,” said Jiang Fan, vice president of Alibaba Group and President of Taobao.

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It is also worth noting that Bilibili was previously invested in by Tencent, making it one of the few companies in China to be backed by two of the biggest Chinese Internet giants. In October 2018, Tencent announced a total investment of $317.6 million in cash for Bilibili.

Featured Image Source: Bilibili