HANGZHOU, May 7 -- China's e-commerce giant Alibaba has filed initial public offering (IPO) document to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with plans to raise one billion U.S. dollars, according to SEC information and well-informed sources.

Anouncing this in an internal communication to employees, founder and chairman of Alibaba Ma Yun said, "Becoming a listed company has never been our goal. It is a tactic and means to realize our mission."

Noting that being listed in the United States will expose Alibaba to chanlleges in the global financial market, Ma said,"Not all companies have the opportunities to face such global chanlleges. We are honored to be one of them."

Analysts here said the one billion U.S. dollar is only an initial figures and that the actual amount could be much bigger.