China’s e-Commerce site 360Buy, has received a $400 million investment from a consortium led by Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal who also invested in Twitter.

The prince’s Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) contributed roughly $125 million to purchase an undisclosed stake in the company.

According to Techcrunch report,Beijing-based 360Buy’s CEO Richard Liu wrote in a companywide email that the funds will be used to continue strategic investments, And this funding round increases 360Buy’s valuation by about 20 percent to $7.25 billion USD from $6 billion USD.

Qiangdong Liu founded the company in July 1998, and the company’s B2C platform went online as jdlaser.com in 2004. jdlaser.com started as an online magneto-optical store, but soon diversified, selling electronics, mobile, computers. Jingdong Mall changed the domain name to www.360buy.com in June, 2007, and it has been offering more than one million product selections and thousands of brands across 12 categories including electronics and computers, home appliances and houseware, apparel, mother and childcare products, books, grocery and gourmet food as well as flight tickets.

Its English website en.360buy.com, for worldwide shipping, became available on October 18, 2012.

360Buy is having 80 million registered users, and 35 million of them are using it actively.

360Buy is focusing on getting investments to become the toughest rival for the China’s top ecommerce site Alibaba before its IPO.

About Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal:

Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal is a major investor in Citigroup.

He owns Private Jet With Space for two Rolls-Royces, a stable for horses and camels, a pen for hawks and a prayer room that rotates so it always points toward Mecca. According to NYT, the price of this jet is over $500 million.

As of March 2012, his personal wealth was estimated to be US $18 billion. Arabian Business ranked him as the most influential Arab in the world. As of January 2013, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index listed Talal as the 10th-richest man in the world, with an estimated net worth of US $28.7 billion.

Read below the full text of press release from Saudi price about this investment.

Kingdom Holding Leads a SR1.5 Billion Consortium for the Acquisition of a Strategic Stake in 360Buy Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, led a consortium of investors advised by QInvest LLC, Qatar’s leading investment bank, for the acquisition of a strategic stake in 360Buy Jingdong Inc. for the value of SR1.5 Billion. The investment by KHC in this deal was approximately SR470 Million. Eng. Ahmed Halawani, Executive Director, Private Equity and International Investments commented saying: “This deal confirms KHC’s expertise to seek rewarding global investment opportunities, and to capitalize on them in light of their potential IRR in order to extract value for KHC shareholders.” Eng. Halawani added: “This deal is also in line with Kingdom Holding’s private equity investment strategy through selecting high growth companies potentially seeking to be listed in one of the international capital markets within three years. The deal also reflects international companies’ confidence in Kingdom Holding and the strategic role it plays in adding real value to their shareholders base.” Prince Alwaleed commented saying: “Our deal solidifies the strategic relationship between Saudi Arabia and China. The acquisition is also an extension of the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to support the business alliance between Saudi Arabia and The People’s Republic of China. This was highlighted during the visit of the Chinese President Hu Jintao to Saudi Arabia. We are also pleased to fortify our investment and business ties with QInvest.” The founder and CEO of 360buy Jingdong Inc., Richard Liu said, “We appreciate Kingdom’s support and we look forward to a long lasting and constructive relationship.” This acquisition is in line with Kingdom Holding’s diversified and unique investment strategy following Prince Alwaleed and Kingdom Holding’s combined investment of $300 Million in Twitter. KHC has a presence in China via Citibank. Moreover, HRH’s investment in the entertainment sector in China includes Disneyland Hong Kong and in the hotel sector via Four Seasons Hotels and Fairmont Raffles Hotel. In April 2006, Prince Alwaleed had met with the Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Royal Guest Palace in Riyadh during his official visit to Saudi Arabia. About Kingdom Holding Company: Founded in 1980, KHC is a publicly traded company which was listed on Tadawul (the Saudi Stock Exchange) in 2007. KHC is one of the world’s most successful and diversified business organizations, highly respected in the field of investments and recognized as an elite player in the Arabian Gulf region, and internationally. KHC’s portfolio has its main interest in landmark hotel properties and hotel management companies, real estate development in Jeddah and Riyadh, financial services, technology and media, manufacturing, aviation and agriculture. About 360buy Jingdong Inc.: 360buy Jingdong Inc. is the largest B2C direct sales e-commerce company in China (source: iResearch). The Company has achieved more than 150% annually compounded growth in gross merchandise volume during past several years and strives to offer the best online shopping experience to its customers. It currently offers more than 7 million SKUs through its B2C direct sales and online marketplace platform. The Company has established nationwide fulfillment capabilities and extensive last mile delivery network to provide superior customer experience. As of December 2012, the Company has six major fulfillment centers with 65 warehouses in 24 cities, as well as nearly 900 delivery stations in 360 cities. Through its 211 program, the Company offers speedy delivery in 23 major cities and 24 hours delivery in 156 cities in China. Their active uses are 35 million and registered users 80 million as of December 2012.