Sina chief steers China’s Twitter deeper into Internet finance

Chao Guowei, chairman and chief executive officer of Sina Corp., speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview on the sidelines of the China Green Companies Summit in Zhengzhou, China, on Sunday, April 23, 2017. Sina, which controls online messaging service Weibo Corp., is preparing to compete with the country's web giants in online lending as the mobile market starts to slow. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Sina Corp, the company behind what’s commonly known as China’s Twitter, is preparing to compete with the country’s web giants in online lending as the mobile market starts to slow. 

Sina, which controls online messaging service Weibo Corp, plans to create a separate company dedicated to providing internet finance across its services, Chairman Charles Chao said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. In doing so, it will be opening a new battlefront with larger rivals Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.