Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group says it will invest CNY5 billion over the next five years into its online auction subsidiary Taobao.com.

Since its founding in 2003, Alibaba claims Taobao has garnered 80 million registered users and over 1 million sellers, as well as third-party service providers in payment, logistics and verification and a network of 400,000 web publishers in its affiliate marketing program.

Jonathan Lu, president of Taobao, stated in an issued press release, "The CNY5 billion investment into the Taobao ecosystem demonstrates our long-term confidence in the Chinese economy, our optimism for China's domestic consumption and our commitment towards creating job opportunities for entrepreneurs who harness the power of the Taobao marketplace."

Alibaba Group owns Alibaba.com, which is one of China's laregest B2B Internet marketplaces, and Alipay, an online payment processing firm.