Alibaba launches bid to boost wireless business

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has launched an internal campaign to promote its mobile chatting app in an attempt to boost the e-commerce giant's wireless business.

Jack Ma, the Alibaba founder, recently called for all of the company's employees to not only use Laiwang, an instant messaging tool whose 4.0 version was released in September, but to help promote the app among their families and friends.

"Those employees who cannot get more than 100 external friends on Laiwang will not get their year-end bonuses," Ma wrote in an internal letter on Monday.

Sharing some similar functions with WeChat and EasyChat, Laiwang's potential has been questioned since its release. However, Ma said in a short message on Tuesday that as the "younger brother of WeChat", Laiwang's goal is not to outperform it but to "make its own future".

Laiwang has new features such as "burn after reading", an automatic message eliminating service, and the right to establish groups with up to 500 members.

In line with the promotion of Laiwang, Lu Zhaoxi, chief executive officer of Alibaba, on Monday announced a new strategy named "ALL IN" targeting development of the wireless sector.