China's Taobao teams up with Yahoo! Japan

Alibaba Group’s retail e-commerce website Taobao announced a cross-selling partnership with Yahoo! Japan (4689.JASDAQ), the Financial Times reported. Starting June 1, Yahoo! Japan Shopping will offer 50 million Chinese product listings to Japanese customers in a new section called "China Mall", while TaoJapan will carry 8 million Japanese listings for Chinese users on Tabao’s site. Taobao will facilitate links for suppliers and other Alibaba units will be responsible for payment settlement, transport, customs and other cross-border services. Both Alibaba – operator of the world’s largest business-to-business online marketplace – and Yahoo’s (YHOO.NASDAQ) Japan subsidiary are linked to Japanese telecoms giant Softbank (9984.TYO). It is one of Alibaba’s investors and also Yahoo! Japan’s largest shareholder with a 41% stake. The deal is seen as Alibaba’s latest move to internationalize its business. It also highlights how Asian internet companies are increasingly engaging in regional cross-border tie-ups for overseas growth.