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.

• Also Read: Unity Software Weighs China Unit Spin Off Amid Challenging Sino - US Relations

• 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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