SK Planet, the operator of e-commerce platform 11st, said Monday that it has joined hands with ZMI, an affiliate of Chinese budget smartphone-maker Xiaomi.

Some of the Xiaomi affiliate’s flagship products, including portable smartphone batteries, LED lights and electric fans, will be distributed by the Korean partner here.

The move came amid heated competition to launch Xiaomi’s products, considered affordable while having comparable specifications, in the Korean market.

Earlier this month, Interpark together with mobile carrier KT’s affiliate KT M&S, released Xiaomi’s smartphone Redmi Note 3, but halted sales within a day, reportedly pressured by its domestic partners and Korean smartphone-makers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, who were said to be concerned over the increasing clout of Chinese rivals on their home turf.

After the memorandum of understanding signing event for the partnership, Lee Chi-hun, the head of 11st’s digital business department, said at the head office of ZMI in Nanjing, China, “11st will stand at the forefront to help the subsidiaries and affiliates of Xiaomi tap into the Korean market.”

The Korean e-commerce firm sold out of 3,000 ZMI portable smartphone batteries last year, and it took just three days to sell out 10,000 packs of ZMI batteries and ZMI electric fans in December.

Some online stores under contract with SK Telecom’s official mobile stores also sold the Note 3 in December.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)