Alibaba to open data center in Singapore

China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group said on Wednesday that it will open a data center next month in Singapore, the second overseas database to be launched this year by Aliyun, its cloud computing arm.

Alibaba said the center will provide a range of cloud computing services to companies operating in Southeast Asia, with an initial focus on Chinese businesses. The new center will be connected with the existing six centers in Beijing, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Silicon Valley when it opens in September, it added.

Alibaba also said Singapore will be the headquarters for Aliyun 's overseas operations. Ethan Yu, vice president of Aliyun, believed that Singapore is a natural location for international cloud operations headquarters because of business climate, comprehensive transport and telecommunications connections.