Lu Zhaoxi, president of Taobao, and Zhang Huali,vice president of Hunan Satellite TV Station, signed an agreement.

Taobao.com, a leading online retail marketplace under the aegis of Alibaba Grou announced its plan to set up a joint venture with Hunan Radio, Film and Television Group.

The venture, to be established with registered capital of 100 million yuan, will set up a special shopping column on Taobao.com, and establish an independent operated Web site. It will also participate in the production of TV programs and movies related to online shopping.

The products to be sold on the platform will come from sellers of Taobao.com, and cooperative brands of Hunan Satellite TV Station. Taobao.com will take on the transaction, payment, and logistics service of the platform, while the venture is responsible for its daily operation.

Formerly, Taobao.com published weekly fashion magazine Taobao Tianxia in partnership with Zhejiang Daily Group, and teamed up with Wasu Digital TV Corporation Ltd., promoting TV shopping programs.

It also cooperated with Lenovo Mobile Communications Technology Ltd., TCL Corporation, and China Telecom Corporation Ltd, launching customized mobile phones embedded with online shopping functions.

Because there have been rampant talks saying that Taobao.com was planning to go public on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in the third quarter of 2010, insiders guess that the e-commerce service provider is making preparation for its listing.

Launched in 2003, Taobao (www.taobao.com) is the largest Internet retail Web site in China with 78 percent of the Chinese-domestic online consumer market*. It provides the most comprehensive product offering ranging from collectibles and hard-to-find items to mainstream retail categories such as consumer electronics, clothing and accessories, sporting goods and household products. As of mid-2009, it served nearly 145 million registered users. In 2008, Alibaba Group announced it will be investing more than US$700 million in Taobao in the next five years.

Hunan Satellite Television is the satellite television network of its parent Chinese language broadcasting company Hunan Television. Unlike its parent company, Hunan Satellite Television broadcasts to audience abroad. It was formed on January 1, 1997 by consolidating Hunan Television's satellite broadcasting assets. The network is based in Changsha, Hunan province. On May 20, 2009, the television network expanded its service to Hong Kong.

By Xie Fang