Jackie Chan will star in "Kung Fu Yoga" with Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif. (Photo : Reuters)
E-commerce giant Alibaba's crowdfunding unit Yulebao is set to invest $16 million in kung fu star Jackie Chan's projects in the next three years.
Striving to boost audience interaction, head of Alibaba's digital entertainment group Liu Chunning said that the company is setting up Yulebao to be a platform for fans. Liu said that collaborating with Jackie Chan is in line with the company's goals.
Chan stated that he is a good friend of Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder and executive chairman.
Chan said: "We both have our business. I focus on making good films and Alibaba Yulebao has promoted fund-raising for new films. I hope we can both get success and promote Chinese films to the world together."
Alibaba previously co-produced Chan's latest epic "Dragon Blade," which co-stars Hollywood biggies such as John Cusack and Adrien Brody.
Yulebao broke investment records when it was launched last year as several hundreds of thousands of people invested money to the fund. The crowdfunding was able to earn $4.8 million in 2.5 days.
Tight control of the Chinese stock market, the unstable condition of Chinese real estate and several government restrictions push Chinese investors to search for new platforms and vehicles where they can invest their money.
Alibaba is offering each investor a maximum of two plans from a list of projects, and an earning of 7 percent on their total investment.
The crowdfunding activity is being handled delicately as China has several experiences in the past concerning illegal crowdsourcing and pyramid scams.
