**Alibaba Sells RT-Mart Chain in Move to Exit Offline Retail**
In a significant business shift, Alibaba, a leading Chinese e-commerce company, has decided to completely divest from RT-Mart, a large hypermarket chain often referred to as the “Walmart of China.” This decision follows its previous divestiture of a department store chain, indicating Alibaba’s strategic retreat from offline retail ventures, even if it means incurring losses.
As competition in China’s e-commerce sector intensifies, Alibaba appears determined to cut off unprofitable offline operations and refocus on its core online business.
According to Chinese economic media outlet Cailian Press, on November 1st, Alibaba announced it would transfer its 78.7% stake in Sun Art Retail, held through its subsidiaries, to private equity firm DCH Capital. The transaction is valued at 13.138 billion Hong Kong dollars (approximately 2.5 trillion won), with a per-share price of 1.38 Hong Kong dollars. Sun Art is known for owning RT-Mart, the largest hypermarket chain in China, with approximately 500 stores as of the end of last year.
Alibaba first invested in Sun Art in November 2017, acquiring a 36.16% stake for 22.4 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 4.2 trillion won). This investment followed Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s vision of a “new retail revolution” combining online and offline integration with smart logistics. In October 2020, Alibaba increased its stake to over 70% with an investment of 27.957 billion Hong Kong dollars (approximately 5.3 trillion won). Considering Alibaba’s total investment, the sale price seems to be roughly a quarter of the original investment value.
Given Sun Art’s declining profitability, Alibaba’s exit is interpreted as a financial loss. In 2017, the year Alibaba acquired Sun Art, annual sales were 102.32 billion yuan (about 20.5 trillion won), with a net profit of 3.02 billion yuan (about 600 billion won). However, by the fiscal year ending March 2024, sales had plummeted 29% to 72.567 billion yuan (approximately 14.6 trillion won), with a net loss of 1.668 billion yuan (around 300 billion won). Although there was a return to profitability in the interim results for the fiscal year ending September 2025, the 186 million yuan (approximately 40 billion won) net profit was not sufficient to offset years of investment losses, as noted by Cailian Press.
This move aligns with Alibaba’s broader strategy to regroup and focus on its strengths in e-commerce, as it faces increasing competition from rapidly growing players like Pinduoduo and Jingdong, as well as short-video platforms entering the e-commerce space.
As part of this restructuring effort, Alibaba has already divested from the department store chain Intime Retail, selling it to Chinese apparel group Youngor in December for 7.4 billion yuan (about 1.5 trillion won), incurring a loss of approximately 9.3 billion yuan (around 1.9 trillion won).
Attention is now turning to Alibaba’s remaining offline businesses, such as its fresh food chain Hema (Freshippo). Despite previous denials of sale rumors by Hema, the market remains watchful following Alibaba’s divestments from Intime and RT-Mart.
Industry experts view these actions as Alibaba’s attempt to optimize its asset structure and concentrate on its core businesses. An executive from Huiheng Capital remarked that the proceeds from the latest transaction would bolster Alibaba’s ongoing investments in cloud computing and e-commerce, as reported by the financial media outlet Economic Daily.