ABSTRACT
Alibaba has a long track record of innovations: from commercializing the first online trading platform, to pioneering online third party payment, to organizing business in a novel way. In Chapter 5 we take one example of continuous innovation: Ant Financial. Alibaba successfully created a new market for financial technology, or Internet finance, in China. In this chapter we will explore the motives for this cross industry innovation, highlight six financial innovations of Alibaba and assess the regulatory context. We conclude that Ant Financial has developed into a strategic node within Alibaba's business ecosystem by continuous cross industry innovation.
