Alibaba.com has entered into an agreement to acquire Vendio Services, Inc., a multi-channel e-commerce company providing a one-stop solution for small businesses that are selling online across multiple channels.

Japan-based Rakuten and Baidu have reached an agreement on the establishment of a joint venture through which the two companies jointly operate an Internet shopping mall in China.

Chinova Information Technology is appointed partner for the development and operation of ChinaPay’s online shopping mall for high quality domestic and overseas products and services.

Chinese language Internet search provider Baidu.com (Nasdaq: BIDU) has launched its online shopping and C2C platform - Baidu Youa. The customers, driven to this platform primarily through Baidu’s search engine, will be able to use a Baidu-branded online payment system, BaiFuBao, to make purchases.

Japan Post Service Co., a mail delivery unit of Japan Post Holdings Co. will open an online shopping mall site for Chinese consumers and Japanese residents in China. Customers will be able to pay for purchases with credit cards and have their orders sent to China by express mail service.

Alibaba.com Limited and SOFTBANK Corp. have formed a joint venture company called Alibaba.com Japan. The new company will take over the operation of Alibaba.com’s existing Japanese-language website which connects small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Japan with buyers and suppliers around the world. SOFTBANK has been a strategic investor in the Alibaba Group for many years.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and online game provider NetDragon Websoft Inc. have officially launched a new co-branded, Unionpay standard credit card, the “Peony NetDragon Credit Card”.

China Electronic Commerce Association (CECA), a government-backed organization is deploying a new authentication device, Fujitsu’s PalmSecure PC mouse equipped with a palm vein biometric sensor, using it as the login mechanism for its employees to gain access to their computers. This is the first deployment of palm vein biometric authentication devices in China.

The online sale of lottery tickets has been banned from Jan. 2 by a circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the General Administration of Sports. Telecommunications regulators will punish those caught selling tickets online and violators could face prosecution.

China Southern Airlines, the largest airline in China has launched a new telephone payment system which allow customers to purchase their e-tickets by dialing a number.