Alibaba opens up its ‘walled garden’ to Tencent’s WeChat Pay, heeding Beijing’s order
- WeChat Pay is now available as a payment option on some Alibaba services such as food delivery platform Ele.me and video-streaming site Youku
- The long-running industry practice of blocking links to rival services has come under intense government scrutiny as Beijing tightens control on Big Tech
Alibaba Group Holding has started to allow consumers to use WeChat Pay, the payment service operated by its rival Tencent Holdings, on a number of its platforms amid the Chinese government’s major push to encourage competition and curb monopolistic behaviour among Big Tech.
A number of Alibaba services – including food delivery platform Ele.me, video-streaming platform Youku, online ticketing platform Damai and cross-border e-commerce platform Kaola – now include WeChat Pay as one of their payment options.
Meanwhile, Alibaba’s bargain marketplace Taobao Deals, second-hand e-commerce platform Idle Fish, as well as grocery chain Freshippo are awaiting approval from Tencent to include WeChat Pay on their services, Alibaba said on Tuesday.
Taobao, Alibaba’s largest online marketplace, has included Cloud QuickPass – a payment service operated by the state-owned UnionPay – as a payment method since August, the Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant confirmed.
“We believe connectivity and openness are the foundation of a healthy digital ecosystem,” an Alibaba spokeswoman said. “We will continue to find common ground with our peers in the platform economy to better serve Chinese consumers.”
Alibaba is the owner of the South China Morning Post.