E-commerce giant Alibaba Group reportedly added WeChat Pay as a remittance option in an effort to alleviate pressure from Chinese authorities related to its market dominance.
CNBC reported users of Alibaba incorporated the payment method to e-book app Shuqi, ticketing service Damai and e-commerce platform Koala, with plans to extend it to more services in the future.
The e-commerce giant reportedly also plans to gradually add more payment options as it moves away from relying solely on subsidiary Ant Group’s Alipay service.
Various media connected Alibaba’s move with an attempt to comply with tighter regulations being imposed on tech companies by Chinese authorities, including a recent order from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology requiring businesses to stop blocking hyperlinks to rival services and content.
Domestic authorities fined Alibaba CNY18.2 billion ($2.8 billion) earlier this year for stifling competition in the online retail market and pressed the company to restructure.
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