Alibaba Plans To Open Physical Banks In China

Rumors on the Internet revealed that the Chinese B2B e-commerce group Alibaba has set up a commercial bank subsidiary, which has gained the approvals of the People’s Bank of China and China Banking Regulatory Commission.

The new subsidiary is reportedly jointly invested by Alibaba Group, the people’s government of Zhejiang, Softbank, and CDH Investments. Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba Group, will reportedly be chairman of the new commercial bank company and Zhong Jiwei, former general manager of the credit card center of China Merchants Bank, will be the new general manager.

The rumors are that Alibaba Group will publish the related information soon, but the news has not been confirmed by the e-commerce group.

However, a representative from Zhejiang Banking Regulatory Bureau told local media that it is true that Alibaba’s establishment of a commercial bank has entered a substantive demonstration phase, and Zhejiang province and Hangzhou city hold a very positive attitude towards the issue. But the final right of approval is attributed to the People’s Bank of China and China Banking Regulatory Commission, and the two departments have not yet given any official reply.