Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba has announced a $1bn deal to take a controlling stake in its Southeast Asian counterpart Lazada, as it looks to expand beyond China’s increasingly saturated market.

中国电商集团阿里巴巴(Alibaba)宣布斥资10亿美元获得东南亚电商Lazada的控股权。阿里巴巴正寻求在日益饱和的中国市场以外扩张。

As well as taking roughly $500m in new shares, the Chinese group is replacing big-name European investors such as Rocket Internet, the Berlin-based start-up incubator, and Tesco, the UK supermarket chain, which are selling down significant stakes in Lazada.

在出资约5亿美元购买Lazada新股的同时，阿里巴巴将取代Lazada的欧洲大牌投资者，例如总部位于柏林的初创企业孵化器Rocket Internet和英国超市连锁乐购(Tesco)，这些投资者将减持在Lazada的大量股权。

The deal, announced yesterday, sees Alibaba join a number of large Chinese companies, including Anbang Insurance and Dalian Wanda, which are hunting for foreign acquisitions.

昨日宣布的这项交易令阿里巴巴加入寻找境外收购目标的很多中国大企业的行列，包括安邦保险(Anbang Insurance)和大连万达(Dalian Wanda)。

“Globalisation is a critical strategy for the growth of Alibaba Group today and well into the future,” Michael Evans, Alibaba president, said. “With the investment in Lazada, Alibaba gains access to a platform with a large and growing consumer base outside China.”

“全球化是阿里巴巴现在以及未来很长时间的一项重要增长战略，”阿里巴巴总裁迈克尔•埃文斯(Michael Evans)表示，“通过投资Lazada，阿里巴巴在中国以外获得了一个拥有大规模且不断增加的消费者群体的平台。”

The relatively untapped Southeast Asia market is attractive to Alibaba as the Chinese ecommerce sector appears saturated with a slowdown in quarterly revenue growth. Ecommerce accounts for about 3 per cent of retail sales in Southeast Asia compared with 8-10 per cent in China.

相对开发不足的东南亚市场对阿里巴巴颇具吸引力，因为中国电商行业似乎已饱和，导致季度收入增速放缓。在东南亚，电商占零售销售的3%左右，而中国为8%至10%。