Alibaba signs cooperation agreement with authorities in China's Hangzhou

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has signed a cooperation agreement with the government of Hangzhou, the city where the company is headquartered, local media reported on Tuesday.

China's internet giants have been in the crosshairs of Chinese regulators for the past two years, but authorities have in recent months given increasing signs that relations between the government and China's tech sector will thaw, which would bode well for the sector's prospects.

The government-backed Zhejiang Daily reported that at the signing event, local authorities formulated specific measures to help develop the online platform economy.

The signing comes just two days after Ant Group Co Ltd, the finance company long affiliated with Alibaba, announced Jack Ma had ceded control of the company.

The announcement caused shares of Alibaba and other Ant Group affiliated companies to soar, as investors interpreted the move as possible cap to a years-long regulatory crackdown on the Chinese tech industry.

On Monday, Guo Shuqing, Communist party chief of the People's Bank of China, was quoted by state broadcaster CCTV as saying that rectification of the financial business of 14 online platform companies has been "basically completed," though he did not name any companies.