Salesforce Shuts Hong Kong Office Amid Brewing US - China Tensions; Consolidates Partnership With Alibaba
Salesforce, Inc (NYSE: CRM) consolidated its strategic partnership with Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) to expand the presence of its software relationship management software in the country, TechCrunch reports.
In 2019, Alibaba became the exclusive provider of Salesforce's software across Greater China.
The move helped Salesforce optimize its business structure to serve the Greater China Region better and involved opening new roles while eliminating others.
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Salesforce is looking to hire a product management director and a senior software engineer in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
Salesforce confirmed shutting down its office space in Hong Kong.
Alibaba will reportedly take over the firm's sales in mainland China and Hong Kong, while Taiwan will fall under the management of its Singapore office.
China's new rules to control cross-border data handling followed international tech giants scaling back their presence in China or exiting the market entirely, namely, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) LinkedIn, Yahoo, and Airbnb, Inc (NASDAQ: ABNB).
In 2021, Salesforce and Alibaba launched a joint product to help brands scale up their social commerce presence in China.
Recently, China emphasized the risks to national security inherent in transferring user data overseas.
The U.S. Congress had also pushed a ruling proposing screening investments in rival countries like China to protect U.S. technologies and rebuild critical supply chains.
Price Action: CRM shares traded higher by 3.29% at $189.84 on the last check Wednesday.
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