KEAST, the star management of actor Kim Soo-hyun, has ventured into a Korean e-commerce business that specifically targets Chinese consumers, online shopping site Pandawang said on Tuesday.

The star label invested a total of 3.3 billion won ($3 million) to become the second largest shareholder of Pandawang, also known as “PandaKorea.com” in Korea, after the largest shareholder and chief executive Lee Jong-sik.

The online shopping mall’s Chinese partner is Shanghai Juda International Trading Co. Ltd., located in the international free trade district in Shanghai.

The move comes amid the rapid growth of e-commerce, backed up by the increasing global fandom of Korean pop culture, or “hallyu.”

KEAST is founded and chaired by Korea’s first generational hallyu actor Bae Yong-joon, who gained fast popularity in Japan through a hit drama, “Winter Sonata (2002).” The star label now has a number of hallyu actors, including Kim Soo-hyun, Kim Hyun-joong and Han Ye-seul.

Pandawang’s list of products mostly comprises cosmetics beauty products, fashion apparel, Korean food and ginseng products, baby products, living necessities and above all, celebrity souvenirs.

Most of Pandawang’s products are assorted from the top-selling Korean goods, praised by Chinese travelers as must-haves. Many cosmetics and beauty products are promoted by Korean celebrities such as Kim Soo-hyun.

“We plan to come up with a variety of products with KEAST, such as exclusive sales of calendars with Kim Soo-hyun’s photos,” Lee Jong-sik said in a statement.

“We will make (Pandawang) the ‘Korean Alibaba’ by offering high-quality, genuine Korean-brand products at low prices in an easy manner,” he added.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)