Most companies in the digital space are laying low when it comes to M&A these days but China’s Alibaba Group says it plans to spend at least $200 million on acquisitions over the next few years. Wei Zhang, who heads the e-commerce company’s strategic investment unit, told the WSJ Alibaba already has invested $73 million and is committed to spending $200 million to $300 million by 2012.

Potential areas include mobile (Alibaba invested recently in UCWEB Technology Ltd. and its mobile web browser), electronic payment and other technologies. Until now, it has invested primarily in mainland China but Zhang said talks are ongoing outside China and will look globally. CFO Joe Tsai said Alibaba looks for investments to compliment the core business.

—Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) owns 39 percent of the company, which owns and operates Yahoo China. How to handle that stake is a question raised often, especially by outsiders. Reuters asked Alibaba CEO Jack Ma earlier this year whether new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was considering a shift in strategy. His reply then?  “If they stay, good. If they leave, great. That’s how we do business,” Ma said.