STORY: Walmart has formed a strategic alliance with Chinese delivery firm Meituan.

The U.S. retail giant said Tuesday (Dec 17) that Meituan had begun providing delivery services for its goods.

And would feature it on its popular app.

Walmart believes the move will help accelerate its e-commerce business in China, which makes up for nearly half of its sales in the country.

The partnership follows Walmart's sale of a stake in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com for $3.7 billion in August.

That allowed it to diversify beyond JD's logistics services.

Meituan is China's biggest food delivery company.

It also provides a host of other services that range from deliveries of other goods to bike-sharing and ticket booking.

One leading analyst said it's the company most Chinese consumers turn to when they want a quick delivery of basic household items.

They also argued Walmart will become more visible by being on the Meituan app.

Walmart last month reported that quarterly net sales in China surged 17% to $4.9 billion.

The same month, Meituan revealed its third-quarter revenue jumped more than a fifth to around $12.9 billion.