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Ant Financial runs Alipay, China's most widely used online payment platform, and is controlled by Alibaba's Executive Chairman Jack Ma and other senior Alibaba executives who spun off Alipay from the rest of the firm in 2011.
Total payment volume over Alipay was $778 billion in the 12 months ended June 30, 2014.
Ma has said on several occasions he plans to eventually list Ant Financial. Alibaba held its own record-breaking $25 billion initial public offering in September.
Ant Financial Services Group, an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba, is in negotiations for funding that have reached a "critical stage" and value the company at $30 billion, news magazine Caixin reported on Monday. The report cited unidentified sources as saying China's state-backed social security fund, Postal Savings Bank of China, and CDB Capital, an investment arm of China Development Bank, would be among the strategic investors in discussions for stakes of 5 percent, 3 percent and 3 percent respectively.
