Sina set to enter world of online lending

ZHENGZHOU - Sina Corp, the company behind what's commonly known as China's Twitter, is preparing to compete with the country's web giants in online lending as the mobile market starts to slow.

Sina, which controls online messaging service Weibo Corp, plans to create a separate company dedicated to providing internet finance across its services, Chairman Charles Chao said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

In doing so, it will be opening a new battlefront with larger rivals Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Despite being late to the burgeoning industry, Chao told investors in November that Sina's standing and customer information would help it move quickly once it got the required licenses.