China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has recently issued 11 MVNO licences to private companies, one of which being HiChina, a subsidiary of Alibaba, in an effort to increase the private sector’s involvement in the telecommunication sector and to stimulate competition. 

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is set to diversify into telecom services, having bagged a license from the Chinese government. HiChina, a subsidiary of Alibaba, received a MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) license from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, a spokeswoman from Alibaba said via email on Friday. Alibaba is not providing further details at this point, she added.