Alibaba goes global with cloud arm after $1bn investment

Chinese e-commerce giant to establish cloud computing centres in Europe, the Middle East, Singapore and Japan

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is pumping $1bn (£639m) into its cloud computing arm Aliyun as it goes on a global push.

Established in 2009, Aliyun provides cloud computing and data-management services to a range of businesses through six datacentres in China, Hong Kong and the US.

Now the cloud arm looks set for global growth, with Alibaba claiming the funding will be used to "expand Aliyun's international presence, extend and support an alliance-based global cloud computing ecosystem, and for the development of new cloud and big data solutions".

Following this investment, Alibaba said it intends to establish an international network of cloud computing centres in Europe, the Middle East, Singapore and Japan. It launched its first overseas datacentre in Silicon Valley earlier this year – one of its six-strong fleet.

Daniel Zhang, Alibaba CEO, said the investment will be used to empower its partners.

"Aliyun has become a world-class cloud computing service platform that is the market leader in China, bearing the fruits of our investment over the past six years," he said. "As the physical and digital are becoming increasingly integrated, Aliyun will serve as an essential engine in this new economy.

"This additional $1bn investment is just the beginning; our hope is for Aliyun to continually empower customers and partners with new capabilities, and help companies upgrade their basic infrastructure."

Alibaba also announced a number of alliance partners for its cloud ecosystem, including Intel and telecoms firm Singtel, along with a new partnership with Yonyou Software, the largest software vendor in China, in a bid to "tap into the enterprise market".