Yahoo Japan and Alibaba have announced on May 29, Friday, their new partnership to promote Japanese goods and products in China, which sent Yahoo Japan's shares in the stock market to rise by 12 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to the report, Yahoo Japan, which is Japan's top search engine today, had started out as a joint venture between the U.S. portal and SoftBank, a Japanese telecommunications and Internet conglomerate. The company is also one of the country's biggest e-commerce players, along with Rakuten, its rival.
The two companies said that they will help each other to bring Japanese merchants to Tmall, Alibaba's major shopping platform.
The report said that Alibaba wants to bring imported products to Chinese consumers, and underdeveloped retail stores and logistic companies in China made it difficult. This is one reason why Alibaba wants to tie up with foreign companies, the report added.
The devalued yen, which made Japanese products cheaper, and the reduction of import tariff on goods are also reasons why the partnership is timely.
In addition, Yahoo Japan will benefit from Alibaba's hundreds of millions of users, including its payment service, and take advantage of this to get more audience.
The report added that Yahoo U.S. is planning to take out 36 percent of its stake in Yahoo Japan, and SoftBank, which has 43 percent of the company, is looking for other investments.
The new partnership may give Alibaba a chance to take a stake in Yahoo Japan, which is welcome news to investors.