Alibaba forms Norinco alliance

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd stepped up its moves in the location services sector on Wednesday by joining hands with the biggest military equipment maker in China.

The alliance between the e-commerce giant and China North Industries Group Corp, or Norinco, is set to drive the expansion of the home-grown Beidou Satellite Navigation System which is starting to threaten the worldwide dominance of the United States-owned Global Positioning System.

Alibaba and Norinco have set up a 2 billion yuan ($313 million) joint venture in Shanghai to provide high-accuracy location and data analysis services to customers, according to Norinco. Alibaba and Norinco will each hold a 50 percent stake in the company.