Alibaba to kick off initial public offering in US

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has decided to begin its initial public offering (IPO) process in the United States, the company announced Sunday. The move is to "make us a more global company and enhance the company's transparency, as well as allow the company to continue to pursue our long-term vision and ideals," Alibaba said in a brief statement. On Friday, media reports said Alibaba had decided on New York after ruling out Hong Kong and London for the IPO. It predicted that Alibaba's IPO would raise billions of U.S. dollars, making it the largest IPO in the U.S. in recent years. Alibaba operates two of the nation's most popular online shopping services, Taobao and TMall. In the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2013, the two platforms' total transaction value exceeded one trillion yuan (163 billion U.S. dollars).