ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has entered into a capital and business alliance with PChome Bibian Inc. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Wei-Lin Lo, CEO; hereinafter “Bibian”), which operates the Bibian proxy purchasing service that enables consumers in Taiwan and other regions to easily purchase Japanese and overseas products. Bibian is a member of the PChome Online Inc. Group, which operates one of Taiwan’s largest e-commerce marketplaces.

In recent years, the expanded overseas distribution of Japanese anime and the increased exposure of character content through social media have heightened global interest in Japanese IP content.*¹ The IP holders (rights owners) of some major IP content are actively expanding their related merchandise overseas in collaboration with local agents. However, there are often challenges in the overseas expansion of IP content due to IP holders lacking global networks and a tendency for agents to prioritize working with major IPs. This makes effective overseas distribution difficult.

Bibian operates one of Taiwan’s largest cross-border proxy purchasing services. The company’s strengths include its vast lineup of products, including approximately 100 million Japanese items, Bibian’s proprietary cross-border logistics network that enables Taiwanese users to enjoy competitive shipping rates and its marketing capabilities leveraging the PChome Group’s economic sphere, which boasts approximately 13 million users in Taiwan. Notably, about 40% of Bibian’s transaction volume consists of Japanese anime and character-related goods, making Bibian a key bridge connecting Japanese IP content and Taiwanese consumers.

Through this capital and business alliance, ITOCHU will introduce Bibian to Japanese IP content holders that wish to expand into Taiwan, supporting the efficient development of overseas markets. Domestic e-commerce businesses handling Japanese IP content merchandise can use Bibian to deliver goods directly to Taiwanese buyers without the need for additional logistics arrangements or entering into wholesale agreements that require lowering prices.
Furthermore, by leveraging ITOCHU’s overseas network, we will support the expansion of Bibian’s cross-border proxy purchasing service into overseas markets beyond Taiwan, building a system that enables IP content holders, whose overseas expansion opportunities were previously limited, to confidently expand into the global market.

Under its management policy, “The Brand-New Deal: Profit opportunities are shifting downstream,” ITOCHU will leverage its expertise and know-how in the IP content business to provide new products and services that meet the diversifying needs of consumers in its core consumer goods domain. ITOCHU will also continue to support the global expansion of anime and character content.