Tencent Holdings has begun letting users shop on Alibaba Group Holding's Taobao e-commerce platform directly through its WeChat app, in another landmark deal aimed at tearing down the digital walls separating two of China's biggest internet giants.

WeChat users can now open Taobao links and complete purchases within the Tencent multipurpose app, according to checks by the South China Morning Post on Wednesday. When users buy or add a product to their shopping cart, they are asked to link their WeChat account to Taobao to access their delivery addresses stored in the shopping app.

Payments can be made via Tencent's digital wallet service WeChat Pay, known as Weixin Pay on the mainland, allowing users to complete their shopping without leaving the Tencent app. Users who choose other payment methods, such as Ant Group's Alipay, will be redirected to the Taobao app to finish their transaction.

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Ant is an affiliate of Alibaba, owner of the Post.

WeChat has allowed users to shop for goods from Alibaba's Taobao without leaving the messaging app. Photo: EPA-EFE alt=WeChat has allowed users to shop for goods from Alibaba's Taobao without leaving the messaging app. Photo: EPA-EFE>

The move comes just weeks after Taobao and its sibling Tmall, the two largest online marketplaces in China, began accepting WeChat Pay for online purchases. Merchants on Taobao and Tmall were given the choice to add WeChat Pay to their shops.

It also follows the conclusion of the Chinese market regulator's antitrust review of Alibaba in late August, which gave the e-commerce giant full recognition after it was hit with a record US$2.8 billion fine in 2021.

For years, Tencent had limited the sharing of links to Alibaba stores on WeChat. But following a call by the Chinese government for tech firms to tear down their "walled gardens", Tencent and Alibaba have taken measures over the past three years to integrate their services.

Tencent, for example, started allowing WeChat users to share Taobao links and browse product pages within the messaging app. It has also enabled users to open a variety of links and content from other rival platforms.

Alibaba, meanwhile, incorporated WeChat Pay into its on-demand food delivery app Ele.me, video-streaming platform Youku and online ticket-booking platform Damai.

Since last October, Taobao has allowed the use of WeChat Pay through an indirect "scan to pay" function. The shopping platform has been testing a direct-payment function this year, according to Chinese media reports.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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