Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
Effective March 30, the halt is attributed to "business adjustments" and will occur while LST continues to fulfill existing orders and provide after-sales service.
Initially celebrated as part of Alibaba's new retail strategy, LST had successfully enrolled over 1.5 million stores by 2020, SCMP reports.
Despite the suspension, Alibaba clarified that LST is neither shutting down nor merging with 1688, Alibaba's wholesale platform.
Last week, Alibaba sold approximately $360 million of its shares in Bilibili Inc
This divestiture aligns with Alibaba's larger goal of shifting focus away from sectors like electric vehicles and AI towards strengthening its core operations in retail and technological sectors, especially cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
In addition to this sale, Alibaba has cut down on its stakes in companies such as XPeng Inc
Meanwhile, Alibaba plans to introduce a new RISC-V processor, the XuanTie C930, through its Damo Academy this year to counteract the impact of stringent U.S. export controls on advanced chip technologies in China.
Recent discussions have highlighted the growing competition Advanced Micro Devices, Inc's
Alibaba stock lost over 16% in the last 12 months. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Invesco Golden Dragon China ETF
Price Action: BABA shares traded lower by 0.29% at $71.92 premarket on the last check Monday.