France's insurance major AXA has forged a strategic partnership with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in a bid to expand its presence in the Chinese market, Reuters reported.

As per the deal, AXA would promote its various insurance products on Alibaba's online platforms such as Alibaba.com, 1688.com, and AliExpress. Alibaba's financial arm Ants Financial Services is also part of the deal. AXA would be selling its travel insurance products to Chinese consumers for overseas trips on Ants financial website.   

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"Thanks to Alibaba's unrivaled knowledge of its home market, this partnership will also help us further accelerate our development in China, where we are already the number 1 international insurer," Thomas Buberl, deputy chief executive of Axa said in a statement.

Alibaba is hoping that AXA's insurance products for extended warranties and repairs would convince more customers and small time traders to try out its e-commerce platforms.

AXA already enjoys a huge presence in the Chinese market. Its joint venture with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is one of the largest joint venture operations in China's insurance sector. However, analysts feel that the partnership with Alibaba would prove to be a true game changer for the company.

Analysts claim that the French insurance giant can easily expand its distribution channel in the lucrative Chinese market with the help of Alibaba's dominant leadership in the e-commerce space. Alibaba's consumer-to-consumer portal Taobao is widely considered among the 20 most-visited websites in the world.

TagsAXA, Alibaba, Alibaba.com, AXA China