Benzinga | Jul 14, 2021 12:01PM EDT

Alibaba, Tencent Propose To Open Barriers Following Domestic Tech Crackdown: WSJ

* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (OTC:TCEHY) are planning to open up their services to one another gradually, the Wall Street Journal reports.

* China's growing tech crackdown has made it difficult for companies to maintain the virtual barriers.

* Alibaba could introduce Tencent's WeChat Pay to Alibaba's e-commerce marketplaces, Taobao and Tmall.

* Tencent could make it easier to share Alibaba e-commerce listings on its WeChat messaging app or allow selected Alibaba services to access WeChat users via mini-programs.

* China's State Administration for Market Regulation had fined Alibaba $2.8 billion for forcing vendors to sell exclusively on its platform.

* The companies control the so-called super apps via their respective camps. Alibaba, its financial affiliate Ant Group Co., and Alibaba-owned firms like Ele.me feature on one camp. The other base features Tencent, JD.com Inc (NASDAQ:JD), Meituan (OTC:MPNGY), and Pinduoduo Inc (NASDAQ:PDD).

* Price action: BABA shares traded higher by 1.13% at $211.92, and TCEHY shares traded higher by 1.55% at $72.06 on the last check Wednesday.