China's Suning signs deal with IBM

China's Suning Appliance Co Ltd, the country's biggest electronics retailer has signed an agreement with IBM to build a multi-billion e-commerce platform, both companies said in a statement on Friday.

China's Suning Appliance Co Ltd, the country's biggest electronics retailer has signed an agreement with IBM to build a multi-billion e-commerce platform, both companies said in a statement on Friday.

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The platform will be supported by cloud technology, logistics and supply chain management and both companies will pool their human resources to build it. As part of the tie-up, IBM will build a global e-commerce centre in Nanjing and will help Suning expand it to hire around 15,000 employees in three to five years.

"Suning, a very clear strategy for the next decade, the important point is to increase the technological capabilities of Suning," said Zhang Jindong, Suning's chairman in a statement.

China's e-commerce industry is booming. Taobao Mall, the dominant player in the market, had 32.8 percent of China's 54.2 billion yuan B2C online marketplace in the second-quarter, according to data from Analysys International. 360buy, Taobao Mall's nearest rival, had 12.4 percent of the market.