Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the Chinese e-commerce giant, will provide cloud computing services and “big data” analysis to Sinopec, China’s largest oil refiner, the companies announced.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp—better known as Sinopec—is only seeking Alibaba’s technical services, and the tie-up does not involve an equity swap, the company said on its official microblog. Sinopec didn’t mention how much the deal was worth.
Aliyun, Alibaba’s cloud computing wing, will help Sinopec improve its traditional petrochemical services, along with setting up a cloud-based business systems and carry out data analytics on its whole petrochemical production chain, according to Reuters.
Both companies will also work together in “the so-called Internet of things, vehicle networking, finance and online payments, e-commerce and online-to-offline commerce.”
The link up between Alibaba, a private Chinese company which holds the record for the largest United States IPO in history, and Sinopec, one of the biggest state-owned companies, coincides with the Chinese regime’s green drive. Large state-owned companies are under pressure to use information technology to monitor their emissions, as well as, supply and demand.
It is unclear if the Alibaba-Sinopec deal will open up more tie-up opportunities for Alibaba with other government-owned firms.
Jack Ma’s company has ran afoul of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s administration recently—the Party’s main company regulator slammed Alibaba for selling fake goods and other violations, and on Friday, the company was fined 800,000 yuan (about $129,000) for pricing irregularities for its Singles’ Day (China’s biggest online shopping day) promotions in 2013 and 2014.
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