Alibaba dials up luxury push

NetEase Kaola purchase to create largest cross-border e-commerce platform in China

Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's acquisition of NetEase Kaola, the cross-border e-commerce arm of NetEase Inc, for $2 billion will create a principal online marketplace for consumers seeking high-quality foreign products, holding more than 50 percent of cross-border e-commerce market share in the country, according to industry experts.

They said China's e-commerce players are increasingly looking to niche segments for new revenue drivers and hoping to bolster efforts to meet rising demand in China for high-quality products from abroad.