Beijing, Mar 14 (IANS): Alibaba, China's biggest e-commerce company, is building apartments to sell to its employees at a discount of about 40 percent, the media reported on Monday.

These 380 apartments, ranging from 87-118 sq.metres, are located in Hangzhou, where the company is headquartered. Construction is expected to be completed by 2018, the People's Daily reported.

Eligible employees will draw lots for the chance to buy the houses. In order to be eligible, they must have worked at the company for at least three years and be in P8 (expert) or M3 (senior manager) positions or lower.

These apartments will be sold for about 10,000 yuan ($1,548) per sq.metre, whereas other properties in the area are priced between 17,000-20,000 yuan per sq.metre.

Alibaba is not the first Chinese company to contribute to staff housing. Evergrande Group provides free apartments to its newly recruited staff.

Hengda Group also provides apartments for its employees to live in free of charge, and gives employees discounts after a certain number of years if they decide to purchase their company housing.

Huawei also guarantees affordable housing for its staff near the Shenzhen factory and headquarters.