CTC and Alibaba team up for cloud services

China Tower Corp, a mobile communication infrastructure company that runs almost all of the mainland's telecom towers, is in discussions with e-commerce heavyweight Alibaba Group Holding Ltd for cooperation in cloud computing, data intelligence and the internet of things, people familiar with the matter said.

The move came after Taobao China, a unit of Alibaba, agreed to buy about $100 million of equity worth as a cornerstone investor in China Tower's HK$68.1 billion ($8.7 billion) initial public offering.

The two sides will also seek cooperation in fifth-generation mobile communication technologies, self-driving and new-energy vehicles, said the sources.