Chinese SMBs will be provided with loans from Alibaba Group

The Nikkei business daily reported that Alibaba Group and China Construction Bank Corp. have partnered to offer an unsecured loan service for small and mid-sized companies in China's Zhejiang province and Shanghai. Alibaba's loan program will be available to Alibaba members, while China Construction Bank will conduct related credit checks, the report said.

According to the report, the city governments of Shanghai and Hangzhou, Zhejiang's capital, are participating in the program. The Zhejiang provincial government and Hangzhou city government have each contributed 40 million yuan ($5.85 million) to help create a total pool of 120 million yuan.

Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba runs a series of business-to-business marketplace Web sites, particularly popular in China.

The reported plan comes as Alibaba Group spin-off Alibaba.com Ltd. is said to be planning to launch its first major marketing effort in the U.S. According to the Wall Street Journal, it will launch a $30 million U.S. marketing campaign Monday, as it seeks further growth amid the recession. In addition, the U.S. campaign will feature Alibaba.com's English-language international site, which already accounts for a majority of the company's revenue.

Additionally, it will target small-business owners and will feature spots on Web sites such as CNN Money.