Shares in Sanrio shot up as much as 15 per cent on Thursday morning after the Japanese company behind Hello Kitty struck a licensing deal with Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba in a bid to expand its footprint.

The five-year deal signed with Alibaba’s intellectual property licensing subsidiary, Alifish, will cover Sanrio’s cast of characters including Hello Kitty, My Melody and her rival devilish rabbit character Kuromi — a hugely popular character in China after a local influencer with more than 14mn followers posted a viral video on social media last year.

The Japanese company said it wanted to “maximise its growth opportunity” created by the rapid digitalisation of the Chinese market, its largest overseas market. Sales in China grew 39 per cent in the fiscal year that ended in March to ￥4.7bn ($34mn), while operating profits were up 19 per cent from a year earlier.