Author：EqualOcean News , Yifan Zhang Editor：Tao Ni Feb 25, 2022 12:09 AM (GMT+8)

The company seeks to tap growing e-commerce market, which has become another battlefield for video-sharing platforms.

Kwai Fu

Chinese short video app Kuaishou (01024: HK) (Chinese: 快手) announced on February 22 that external links to two of China’s e-commerce giants Taobao Alliance (Chinese: 淘宝联盟) and JD Alliance (Chinese: 京东联盟) will be removed from its livestream service soon.

Effective from March 1, this policy will also block Taobao’s links in short videos and products’ information page, while links from JD.com in these two sections will remain accessible.

This change is due to “adjustments of agreement” between third-party e-commerce platforms and the company, Kuaishou said in a notice, without disclosing the details. Early in November 2021, Kuaishou disconnected with another two Chinese e-commerce enterprises, Youzan (08083:HK) (Chinese: 有赞) and Mockuai (Chinese: 魔筷).

On 27 December 2021, the video-sharing platform teamed up with Chinese food delivery giant Meituan (3690:HK) (Chinese: 美团). The new partnership allows Kuaishou users to access Meituan’s services through an in-app mini-program. This strategic tie-up is expected to fend off challenges from their common rival Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

Douyin, China’s largest short-video platform by daily active users, has taken an early move in 2020 to delete external links. Eyeing a closed-loop e-commerce system, the premier competitor of Kuaishou poses a threat to Meituan with its decision of entering the takeaway market in July 2021.

Kuaishou’s move to join hands with Meituan also aims to consolidate its market share amid mounting competition from smaller but fast-growing short video platforms like Xigua Video (Chinese: 西瓜视频), Tencent WeSee (Chinese: 腾讯微视) and Haokan Video (Chinese: 好看视频).