Alipay, the Internet payment subsidiary of Alibaba Group, and Yek Mobile, a Chinese mobile retail service provider, have formed a strategic partnership to jointly promote the convergence of mobile payment and e-commerce.

Dong Xiaoling, general manager for the B2C business department of Alipay, said that Alipay has talked with many traditional retailers and brands, and the company will cooperate with more traditional retail enterprises in the future. They will launch more payment services basing on mobile technologies such as LBS. Dong said Yek Mobile is a leader in these sectors in China and it provides mobile retail services to more than 20 well-know Chinese offline retailers.

Zhang Zhijian, chief executive officer of Yek Mobile, said that mobile Internet smartphones are not only a simple sales channel anymore. With the cooperation between Yek Mobile and Alipay, they will be able to improve users' shopping experience and payment experience, so as to promote the development of mobile e-commerce. With the further convergence of mobile e-commerce and mobile payment, the entire mobile e-commerce market will have access to new possibilities.

Financial details for the deal have not been released.