(Bloomberg) -- Dalian Wanda Group Co. and China UnionPay are planning to collaborate on mobile payment apps, as the conglomerate led by billionaire Wang Jianlin looks to revitalize its online business after a tie-up with China's top Internet companies collapsed.
Wanda and UnionPay will develop a UnionPay cardholder service system and payment applications such as UnionPay QuickPass, which will be available in Wanda properties including supermarkets, theaters, hotels, theme parks and hospitals, Wanda said in a statement Thursday.
As part of the alliance, UnionPay will acquire a stake in Wanda Internet Technology Group. The effort could put Wanda and UnionPay in competition with entrenched payment platforms like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. affiliate Alipay and Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s WeChat Pay.
The partnership also comes after plans for Wanda's cooperation with Baidu Inc., China's most-used search service, and Tencent, the country's biggest Internet company, failed to materialize.
“I know many people have in the past doubted Wanda's ability to develop an Internet technology business,” Wang told reporters in Beijing. “Wanda Internet has now figured out the direction to go in."
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Jeanne Yang in Shanghai at jyang543@bloomberg.net, Prudence Ho in Hong Kong at pho83@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Dave McCombs, Lena Lee
With assistance from Jeanne Yang, Prudence Ho
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