(Yicai Global) June 8 -- Ant Financial Services Group, the fintech affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, plans to spin off its self-developed database product OceanBase into a new wholly owned subsidiary.

Ant Financial will start running the product from Beijing OceanBase Technology, Beijing Youth Daily cited the firm as saying today. Ant Chief Executive Simon Hu will chair the new company.

Developed in 2010, OceanBase is a world-leading database supporting businesses like Ant’s own financial services app Alipay, and Zhejiang E-commerce Bank. Alibaba also uses OceanBase for its Double 11 shopping events held every November, and the product has applications in the transport and aerospace sectors.

Spinning off the unit is an indication of how mature the business model has become and the prominence it now holds within Ant Financial, the report added. The new firm plans to release a major upgrade to the software this year and hopes to serve more than 10,000 corporate customers worldwide within the next three years.

Technology is an important strategic direction for Ant Financial, the report cited the firm as saying. After developing OceanBase for 10 years, the product has overcome various challenges and Ant hopes it can now offer it to more partners, it added.

Editor: James Boynton