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The increase in shares shows the e-commerce giant’s confidence in the healthy and long-term development of the company, the source said.

The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (Nasdaq: BABA) indirectly increased the stake in its healthcare unit Alibaba Health Information Technology (0241:HK) to 7.71 billion shares, 57.06% accordingly.

Previously, the parent company owned 7,664,602,068 shares, 56.70% of the total issued share capital.

According to the regulatory filing filed to the Hong Kong exchange, this increase was due to the distribution in specie of some shares held by Innovare Tech Limited under Jack Ma's YF Fund to the limited partners (L.P.) of the Fund on May 20.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited remains the largest and ultimate controlling shareholder of the company after the distribution.

The stake increase is expected to be conducive to further synergy between Alibaba Health and the group's ecology, which will also accelerate the development of a one-stop medical and health service system.

Founded in 1998, Alibaba Health (0241:HK) is the first Chinese Internet-healthcare company to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It is primarily engaged in the pharmaceutical direct sales business, the pharmaceutical e-commerce platform business, medical and healthcare services platforms, and digital infrastructure business and related services, though it wants to take off the 'e-pharmacy' tag for long.

Regarding this distribution, YF Fund stated that stock distribution was routine work for fund management. The fund would stay optimistic about the long-term development of Alibaba Health in the industry, and it will continue to maintain good cooperation with the company.