New | Dalian Wanda opens doors to Suning shops

Chinese commercial giants Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties and Suning Commerce Group signed a joint development agreement in Beijing in a surprise move on Sunday, given their rivalry in the e-commerce and property markets.

Suning, a leading retailer of electronic appliances, maternal goods and household necessities, plans to open shops in Wanda's plazas across China. The first batch of 40 outlets is expected to open this year.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding announced last month that it was acquiring a 19.99 per cent stake in Suning for 28.3 billion yuan, becoming the Nanjing-based company's second-largest shareholder, in a bid to expand its online-to-offline market.

Dalian Wanda Group, headed by China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, is also eyeing the online-to-offline market. The world's largest commercial property developer formed an e-commerce joint venture with leading Chinese internet companies Baidu and Tencent Holdings a year ago in a move to challenge the dominance of Alibaba in the online retailing sector.

However, competition in the cyberworld has not prevented the two companies from finding common goals in brick-and-mortar shops.

"We will use one's strengths to make up for the other's weaknesses," Wang said.