(Yicai Global) Nov. 1 -- Chinese used-car trading platform Beijing Souche Technology Co. has bagged USD335 million in E-round financing led by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. [NYSE:BABA]. With the new funding, Alibaba will become the company's second largest shareholder behind the management team, and will earn a seat on its board of directors, 36Kr reported.

Alibaba has invested so much in Souche because of its synergy in new retail, the online retailer said. The nature of new retail is to improve transaction efficiency using the internet and Big Data. Both parties will team up to create a thoroughly integrated and diverse 3D ecosystem for new retail businesses in the auto industry, which is set to benefit car makers, dealers and consumers.

Since Alibaba affiliate Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group Co. invested in Souche in 2016, the trading platform has been cooperating with Alibaba on the auto section of its business-to-consumer platform Tmall and its third-party payment platform Alipay, said Yao Junhong, chief executive of Souche. The pair will continue to work together in new retail, he added.

Founded in 2012, Souche has introduced such services as enterprise and customer management and marketing to distributors of second-hand cars and secondary distributors of new cars. It also introduced auto financing lease products and was the first company to offer a 10-percent down, use before you pay payment model in China.