Alibaba taps rural China to bounce back

Hong Kong

IT took less than a year for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to turn from a stock market darling into the biggest source of shareholder losses worldwide.

Now, China's biggest e-commerce operator is plotting its comeback. This week's purchase of a stake in Suning Commerce Group Co - chairman Jack Ma's largest deal ever - is part of the company's push to reach millions of new customers in rural China and abroad through a bigger logistics network.