China Minsheng Banking Corporation and Alibaba Group have formed a strategic cooperation for the establishment of an open Internet financial platform aiming to serve small and micro enterprises as well as grassroots Chinese consumers.

Under the agreement signed by the two parties, apart from the traditional clearing and settlement and credit card services, Minsheng Banking and Alibaba will focus on financial management services, direct banking services, Internet terminal finance, and information technology.

Hong Qi, president of Minsheng Banking, said that traditional banks are seeking new ways of development and the introduction of the Internet element will bring flexibility to big organizations. The strategic agreement with Alibaba is only a beginning for the cooperation between the two parties. In the future, Minsheng Banking will attach more importance to customer experience-oriented financial services.

Peng Lei, chief executive officer for Alibaba's small and micro enterprise financial service group, said that small and micro enterprises and private banks are opportunities for traditional banks. Minsheng Banking and Alibaba will work together to establish a financial open platform, which will provide customized products and services to small and micro enterprises as well as grassroots consumers.

Peng said online financial management products and direct banking services are the cooperating foci of the two parties. After integrating the user groups of both parties, Minsheng Banking will design special financial management products for customers of Alibaba and users of Taobao.com. Meanwhile, Minsheng Banking will open a direct banking store on Taobao.com to realize online display and sales of financial products.