A cyclist rides past a signboard of Alibaba Group in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, June 25, 2014. [Photo/IC]

HONG KONG - China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group on Friday announced its acquisition of the South China Morning Post (SCMP), a major English newspaper in China's Hong Kong.

Alibaba made the announcement through a press release in Hong Kong, saying that it has made an agreement to acquire the newspaper and other media assets of the Hong Kong-listed SCMP Group.

The SCMP was previously owned by Kerry Media. Buying the SCMP is the first acquisition of overseas media assets for Alibaba.

The agreement combines the heritage and editorial excellence of the SCMP with Alibaba's digital expertise to provide comprehensive and insightful news and analysis of big stories in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, the press release said.