Alibaba chairman's financing firm granted to set up private bank

Yu said Internet-focused MYbank may be similar to Tecent's Webank since both Alibaba and Tecent are Internet companies.

Yu also said the establishing of MYbank will benefit from years of operational experience of Aliloan, a small business lending service which is now part of Zhejiang Ant.

Aliloan has been providing financial services for small- and micro-sized companies on Alibaba's major platforms Taobao and Tmall, which control 80 percent of online retail sales in China.

Once in service, MYbank will be operating side by side with the Aliloan service, Yu said.

Analysts said the establishment of five private banks is set to increase competition in the banking sector and improve financial services for the country's weak links such as small business and agriculture.

Though China's overall money and credit supply is not low, small- and micro-sized enterprises still have difficulties accessing funds and face high financing costs.

Over the years, small- and micro-sized firms in China have lost in the race for loans against much stronger state-owned companies, and paid higher rates than their state peers.

Chinese leadership has repeatedly vowed support for small- and micro-businesses since they create more jobs for the country than state firms.

At the Summer Davos forum in Tianjin earlier this month, premier Li Keqiang promised that the government will continue to ensure efficient use of both the existing and additional fiscal and financial resources and further scale up support for the real economy and micro-businesses, among others.

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