TAIPEI, Taiwan -- E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is penetrating deeper into the offline sector to build its "new retail" model. Post the deal, which was announced by Lianhua, Alibaba is the second-largest shareholder in the former. Lianhua shares rose 24 percent to close at HK$3.92 on Monday while the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 0.24 percent. Toward this end, Alibaba announced a partnership with Shanghai retail conglomerate Bailian Group Co in February. In June last year, Alibaba also became the biggest shareholder in Intime Retail Group.

Source: The China Post May 31, 2017 00:11 UTC