Gloves off in China as banks, Alibaba invade each other's turf

Shanghai

CHINA is the scene of a growing rivalry: In one corner is billionaire Jack Ma's Alibaba Group Holding, which holds the title as the country's biggest online retailer. In the other are China's biggest banks. This week, Alibaba is launching MYbank, an online lender that will tap Chinese savers' record US$7.8 trillion of deposits and a banking revenue stream that's forecast to double by 2020.

Banks have been striking back by pushing into the business Mr Ma pioneered in China, online malls. The moves are blurring the lines between banking and e-commerce as China's government continues encouraging competition in the finance industry and as the Chinese increasingly use computers and mobile phones to bank and shop.