A group that includes Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is betting 1.5bn riyals ($400m) on the promise of strong growth in Chinese e-commerce, despite intensifying competition.

Kingdom Holding Co., Prince Alwaleed's investment firm, said on Saturday it is part of a consortium buying a stake in China's Jingdong Century Trading Co., which runs online shopping site 360buy.com. Kingdom was advised on the deal by Qatar's QInvest, it said.