José Neves, CEO, Farfetch. Photo credit: TechCrunch, licensed under CC BY 2.0

Chinese technology giant Alibaba is in discussions with London-based online luxury fashion retailer Farfetch to buy up a stake of nearly $300 million and explore a possible joint venture for the Chinese market with the company, according to a report [paywalled] from The Information. Swiss luxury group Richemont, which has its own joint venture with Alibaba, is looking to invest in Farfetch along with the Chinese e-commerce giant, The Information reports.

Alibaba isn’t by any way new to joint ventures that see it grab up stakes in other companies and secure business partnerships as a result. The company’s popular e-commerce marketplace, Tmall, has a section for luxury items so it shouldn’t be far-fetched that it’s seeking to clinch a partnership with Farfetch. 

Farfetch already has a sizeable business in China, which is known to be the second biggest luxury market behind the US. China has long fueled the growth of the global luxury market and seems to be even more crucial now as the appetite for luxury items continues to rise in the country. 

Alibaba could be looking to bolster its already outsized e-commerce business in China by tying up with Farfetch, which is a publicly-traded company. Notably, before Farfetch became publicly-traded, it was backed by one of Alibaba’s major competitors, JD.com, and has long partnered with the company. JD served as a gateway into the Chinese market for Farfetch and helped the luxury e-tailer to gain ground there.

Now, it seems Farfetch could be getting yet another Chinese partner in the form of Alibaba. 

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