Photo taken on Oct. 15, 2020 shows the headquarters of Ant Group in East China's Hangzhou city. Photo:Xinhua

Chinese regulators have recently approved plans by three companies based in East China's Zhejiang Province to invest in Ant's consumer finance unit via a share capital increase, domestic news portal National Business Daily reported on late Wednesday. 

The banking and insurance regulator in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, where Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance is registered, approved the investment plan to boost the unit's capital to 18.5 billion yuan ($2.63 billion) from a current 8 billion yuan. The Chongqing company, which houses Ant's credit businesses Huabei and Jiebei, is Ant's consumer finance unit and Ant is 33 percent owned by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

After the share capital increase, a Hangzhou government-owned entity is set to become the second largest owner with a 10-percent stake while Ant will hold 50 percent of its consumer unit.

Some of the better known investors of Ant's consumer finance company include electronic component maker Sunny Optical Technology, Chinese battery manufacturer CATL, and medical equipment maker Jiangsu Yuyue Medical Equipment & Supply Co.

The recent move is part of a restructuring effort by financial technology company Ant, which had its massive IPO in Hong Kong and Shanghai withdrawn in November 2020. 

Partly boosted by the news, Alibaba shares surged nearly 13 percent on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.