Alibaba Group, the largest online retailer in China, agreed to acquire Kaola, a local e-commerce platform, from NetEase for $2bn. The transaction paves the way for the two internet companies with deep roots in Hangzhou to further identify and explore business collaborations. “Alibaba is confident about the future of China’s import e-commerce market, which we believe remains in its infancy with great growth potential. We welcome Kaola to the Alibaba family and value NetEase’s contributions in incubating an e-commerce platform with strong import capabilities. With Kaola, we will further elevate import service and experience for Chinese consumers through synergies across the Alibaba ecosystem,” Daniel Zhang, Alibaba Group CEO.