Xiaozhu, China’s answer to Airbnb, has agreed with Alibaba Group Holdings to list its domestic rentals on the e-commerce giant’s used goods website in their second deal of the year so far.
The Beijing-based firm will work with Alibaba’s Xianyu platform to create a safer and better quality homestay experience for users, state-backed news outlet The Paper reported, adding that the pair will jointly develop smart systems for the short-term rentals.
Xiaozhu and Alibaba have launched a three-week joint marketing campaign to mark their latest tie-up, offering users discounts when booking Xiaozhu stays on Xianyu. The pair plan to form an intelligent rental platform in the next two years to provide users with smart services covering search and payment functions.
Total transactions for the sector in China are forecast to hit RMB 50 billion (USD7.3 billion) by 2020, according to China’s State Information Center, which also predicts the number of shared houses and tenants will exceed 6 million and 100 million respectively.
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