Kobe Bryant to star in Ele.me's ad

Ele.me, the online food ordering and delivery app backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, said the advertisement marks Bryant's first-ever endorsement for a Chinese internet company.[Provided to China Daily]

A video advertisement featuring retired NBA star Kobe Bryant as a ping-pong player and his coach using food ordered on Ele.me to encourage him to beat his competition is expected to go live across China from today.

The advertisement marks Bryant's first-ever endorsement for a Chinese internet company, said Ele.me, the online food ordering and delivery app backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

Zhang Xuhao, chief executive officer of Ele.me, said the reason to choose Bryant to represent the Shanghai-based company is that there are many sports events in 2016.

"With Bryant's endorsement, we hope he can add the spirit of going all out in work to our brand," said Zhang.

Zhang, who announced the Bryant endorsement on Tuesday, said that the company will also launch an "on-time delivery" service to step up its effort in food delivery industry.

Restaurants, which participate in the new Ele.me service, will be equipped with an online logo saying "Zhun" or on-time in English.

Customers who order food from restaurants with such logo will get rebate on their next order if their food isn't delivered on time.

According to Ele.me, it completes more than 5 million orders a day, becoming the third-largest online transaction platform by orders after online shopping site taobao and ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing.

It has expanded its business to more than 700 cities in China with more than 70 million users.