Alibaba's subsidiary China Yahoo has for the first time made an apology to Qihu360 for the improper competitive practices its service Yahoo Assistant has brought to Qihu360.

China Yahoo has made the apology on its home page, saying that "Beijing Alibaba Information Technology Co., Ltd and www.3721.com have executed improper competition to Beijing Sanji Wuxian Network Technology Co., Ltd's Qihu360, hence we published the apology statement according to a civil judgment made in 2007."

Both parties have been low-key as far as the apology is concerned. China Yahoo says that they have reached a reconciliation with Qihu360 and they have recognized each other's efforts in the industry.

The confrontation between Alibaba's Yahoo Assistant and Qihu360 originated in 2006, when in July of that year Qihu360 launched a free anti-virus service and listed Yahoo Assistant as malware. In return it was blocked by Yahoo's 3721. From then on, the parties began to fight against each other with different software and the war between them finally resulted in a series of lawsuits.

China Yahoo reportedly will keep the apology on its home page for a few days.