Alibaba, Uniqlo partner in China

Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group has partnered with Japanese apparel retailer Fast Retailing Co for online sales in China, the Wall Street Journal reported. Fast Retailing’s flagship clothing chain Uniqlo will collaborate with Taobao.com, Alibaba’s consumer e-commerce site in which customers can make purchases either from branded stores or from other users via online auctions. Fast Retailing chief Tadashi Yansai said the tie-up will allow Uniqlo to reach Taobao’s user base, currently at around 100 million registered users. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Uniqlo has 766 stores in Japan and now has a total of 71 overseas stores, 21 of which are in China. However, the clothing chain has a limited online presence in China, according to the report.