Alibaba Pictures Expands Into Cinemas

(Beijing) – The film production unit of e-commerce giant Alibaba is investing 100 million yuan ($15.2 million) in a movie theater operator in the eastern city of Hangzhou, in an effort to tap further into China's booming box office and challenge the dominance of Dalian Wanda.

Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd. plans to purchase about 61 percent of Hangzhou Xingji for 39 million yuan, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on August 22. It will inject another 61 million yuan into the cinema operator.