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The online retail platform of Chinese tech giant Alibaba announced Wednesday that it will issue $7 billion in subsidies for certain purchases, providing a much-needed boost for a country struggling with sluggish spending.
Taobao, China’s e-commerce champion launched by Alibaba in 2003, said in a WeChat statement that the 50 billion yuan ($6.97 billion) would “directly subsidise consumers and merchants” over a 12-month period starting Wednesday.
The spending incentives on Taobao’s “flash purchase” feature will take the form of “red envelopes” — a…
