The Alibaba Group logo is displayed on the mobile phone.
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Chinese tech giant Alibaba there is said that the core Taobao and Tmall e-commerce platform will now allow payment through Tencent’s WeChat app for the first time.
Previously, Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba only accepted limited payment options and pushed out rival WeChat Pay Alipay as one of the main payment methods. Alipay is managed by Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba which was also founded by Jack Ma.
“We are always open to collaboration, and have been actively exploring interoperability and partnerships with our partners,” an Alibaba spokesperson told CNBC. “We are constantly striving to improve the user experience by making shopping more convenient, fun, and efficient.”
Taobao and Tmall are likely to start accepting payments through WeChat Pay this month, a source familiar with the matter who was not authorized to make the details public, told CNBC.
The historic move comes as Alibaba looks to expand its Chinese e-commerce business, which is under pressure from slowing Chinese consumers and from competitors like JD.com amd Meet-the-owner PDD.
Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu previously said that Taobao and Tmall businesses should grow again in the latter half of the company’s 2025 fiscal year.
WeChat has more than 1.3 billion users worldwide, the majority of which are in China. WeChat Pay is one of the largest mobile payment apps in the country.
By allowing users to transact through WeChat Pay on Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba can increase its market share in China’s underdeveloped regions, the source said.
The company’s biggest rival JD.com also allowed WeChat Pay to be used on its platform for a long time.
Another theme in the background is Beijing’s regulatory scrutiny of Chinese tech companies, asking them to cut back on so-called walled gardens that block competitors’ products.
Alibaba and Tencent are China’s two largest internet companies that have established their dominance through a wide range of services, often centered around so-called super apps. The popularity created a long-standing situation where competitors do not allow access to each other’s services on their respective platforms.
The tech giant began changing its practices over the past few years, amid criticism from regulators. In 2021, Tencent began allowing users to access external links in one-on-one conversations. For example, if someone shares a link from Alibaba’s Taobao on WeChat, users will be able to open it without leaving the messaging app. In the same year, several other Alibaba apps started supporting WeChat Pay.
Last week, China’s market regulator said Alibaba had completed a three-year regulatory “rectification” process following an 18.23 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) antitrust fine the company received in 2021.
