Beijing-based B2C e-commerce platform 360Buy and China Mobile (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) yesterday signed a strategic partnership agreement in Guangzhou under which the two companies will cooperate in the areas of joint construction of service centers, custom handsets, new services, member sharing, media, logistics, information, and value-added services. China Mobile will offer 360Buy its value-added services and promotional resources for use in mobile services and sales. 360Buy has set a development goal of selling 4 mln TD-SCDMA mobile handsets in 2012.

The new partnership will be implemented in phases, the first of which will cover seven municipal and provincial China Mobile subsidiaries, including Beijing Mobile, Shanghai Mobile, and Guangdong Mobile, and will be fully operational by the end of the year. 360Buy and China Mobile will also kick off efforts on synchronized handset launches.

The second phase of the partnership will expand coverage to 90% of the provinces in which China Mobile operates.

Source:marbridgeconsulting