Chinese internet giant Alibaba could spend up to $38 billion on acquisitions in 2016

Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, could afford to spend up to $38 billion (£25 billion) on acquisitions, mergers, and investments during 2016, according to Bloomberg.

The company, which has a market value of $209 billion (£137 billion), spent around $15 billion (£9.8 billion) on mergers and acquisitions in 2015.

The figure, which is compiled by analysts for BNP Paribas SA, comes from the available cash flow of the company, combined with its current cash hoard.

Alibaba has many different businesses, including a social network, an Amazon-like e-commerce arm, and a logistics firm.

Tencent and Baidu, two other Chinese companies, are also looking to increase the amount spent on acquisitions and investments. The companies have a war chest of $35 billion (£23 billion) and $15 billion (£9.8 billion) respectively.

Alibaba was one of the hottest public stock offerings of 2015, raising $22.1 billion (£14.7 billion) and valuing it at over $200 billion. The company posted strong results in third quarter of 2015 with net income reaching $3.6 billion (£2.4 billion).