Alibaba Group, Yahoo! Inc. and Softbank Corp. Wednesday are currently "engaged in constructive negotiations" on Alipay issues and?"have made substantive and encouraging progress" towards a final agreement, said the three companies in a joint statement on Wednesday.

"Our objective is to reach an agreement in a timely manner that serves the interests of all stakeholders," said the statement.

The three companies also said that they will not comment on details concerning the status of Alipay until it's "appropriate" to do so.

Alibaba recently transferred its Alipay unit to a company wholly-owned by Alibaba founder and CEO Ma Yun, a move it said necessary to comply with new Chinese regulations that bars foreign investment in domestic online payment companies.

Yahoo was unpleasant about Alipay's transfer and said in a regulatory filing that Alibaba didn't seek board approval or even notify itself before the deal. However, Alibaba claims its move was in line with the law and transparent.

Yahoo owns 40 percent of Alibaba, and Softbank owns 30 percent.