Alibaba to build China mobile gaming platform

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group will launch a mobile gaming platform in China, tapping the booming market dominated by tech rival Tencent Holdings (0700.HKG), Reuters reported, citing a company statement on Wednesday. Mobile gaming is hugely popular in China, home to the largest number of smartphone users in the world. In 2013, mobile gaming revenue accounted for US$1.86 billion (RMB11.24 billion), or 13.5% of the overall Chinese video gaming market, the world’s third-largest. Liu Chunning, a former Tencent executive who now heads Alibaba’s digital entertainment business, said in a statement the mobile gaming platform would be offered free to developers for the first year.