<p class="bodytext">China's e-commerce behemoth Alibaba has bought a controlling $3.6 billion stake in SunArt which runs hundreds of hypermarkets on the mainland for French shopping giant Auchan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The move to take a 72 percent holding in SunArt tightens Alibaba's grip on China's vast e-commerce sector as it looks to soak up the new customers pushed online to buy groceries, fresh food and healthcare products by the coronavirus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It also hands over control of 13 million square metres (140 million square feet) of retail space in scores of cities across the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">That tie-in gave the Chinese firm ownership of around a third of the hypermaket company.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Alibaba quickly set about transforming SunArt from a traditional bricks-and-mortar hypermarket to an online groceries hub, matching its wider e-commerce goods business.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Sun Art has made significant progress in the digital transformation," Alibaba said in a statement Monday announcing its $3.6 billion investment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The supermarket chain has since been "leveraging resources and technology from the Alibaba ecosystem."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The buyout of SunArt will boost a promise to deliver groceries within 30-60 minutes of being ordered over Alibaba's Tmall platform, the statement added.</p>
<p class="bodytext">China's e-commerce behemoth Alibaba has bought a controlling $3.6 billion stake in SunArt which runs hundreds of hypermarkets on the mainland for French shopping giant Auchan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The move to take a 72 percent holding in SunArt tightens Alibaba's grip on China's vast e-commerce sector as it looks to soak up the new customers pushed online to buy groceries, fresh food and healthcare products by the coronavirus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It also hands over control of 13 million square metres (140 million square feet) of retail space in scores of cities across the country.</p>.<p class="bodytext">That tie-in gave the Chinese firm ownership of around a third of the hypermaket company.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Alibaba quickly set about transforming SunArt from a traditional bricks-and-mortar hypermarket to an online groceries hub, matching its wider e-commerce goods business.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Sun Art has made significant progress in the digital transformation," Alibaba said in a statement Monday announcing its $3.6 billion investment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The supermarket chain has since been "leveraging resources and technology from the Alibaba ecosystem."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The buyout of SunArt will boost a promise to deliver groceries within 30-60 minutes of being ordered over Alibaba's Tmall platform, the statement added.</p>