Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) is set to sponsor the upcoming Lunar Year Spring Festival Gala as it steps up efforts to woo budget-conscious consumers. With Alibaba looking to boost its growth rate in a struggling economy filled with competing firms, sponsoring one of the world’s most-watched broadcasts is sure to do some good. Hundreds of millions of viewers watch the Spring Festival Gala every Lunar New Year’s Eve, making it the most-watched event in China.
According to the deal the Hangzhou-based firm signed with state-owned China Media Group (CMG), Alibaba will be the 2025 Spring Festival Gala show’s ‘exclusive e-commerce interactive platform’. CMG is the largest company of China Central Television, the state broadcaster that airs the annual gala. A must-watch event, the gala drew in an estimated billion viewers in 2018 and could be a great opportunity for Alibaba to revive its growth momentum.
Alibaba scored a similar partnership seven years ago through Taobao, one of the online shopping platforms under its umbrella. Alibaba Group Holding won the 2025 Spring Festival Gala show sponsorship from a pool of several major Chinese tech firms that were also jostling for the opportunity to sponsor one of the popular broadcasts across the globe.
The deal comes just weeks after the e-commerce giant merged its overseas and domestic e-commerce operations in a company-wide attempt to achieve synergy. It is also a sign that Alibaba’s relationship with the Chinese government is on the mend after Beijing spent three years conducting an antitrust review into Alibaba via its market watchdog, the State Administration for Market Regulation.
The regulator levied a record $2.8 billion penalty on Alibaba in April 2021 after carrying out an anti-monopoly review in late 2020. What followed was a three-year-long antitrust investigation that put Alibaba under significant scrutiny and pressure before the review concluded in August 2024. A statement on the market regulator’s website noted that Alibaba had ‘stopped its monopoly behavior’ and that its rectification was complete.
Although Alibaba saw some gains when the review period ended, the e-commerce company has reported sluggish growth for the past several months amidst weaker-than-expected sales and a weakening economy. Fierce competition from large players in the same market niche has made it even harder for Alibaba to regain its growth momentum.
The company is now looking to revive its growth and attract more users by sponsoring the Spring Festival Gala show, a ratings giant that has attracted billions of viewers in the four decades it has aired on Lunar New Year’s Eve.
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