Cross-border

Belgium Joins Alibaba’s Electronic World Trade Platform

Jul 06, 2018, 00:06am2018/07/06 00:09:59 Alice Zhang

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel met with Jack Ma from the Alibaba<img decoding="async" class="trade-card__loading" layout="fixed" height="50" width="50" src="https://assets.pandaily.com/uploads/2021/12/loading.png" placeholder /> Group in Brussels on July 3 and announced Belgium’s participation in the company’s digital trade platform.

Alibaba<img decoding="async" class="trade-card__loading" layout="fixed" height="50" width="50" src="https://assets.pandaily.com/uploads/2021/12/loading.png" placeholder />‘s logistics platform Cainiao Network announced this May the first batch of digital trading hubs in six world-class cities including the Belgian city of Liège. It will also be the first Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) e-Hub to operate between Europe and China.

During the talks, Belgium expressed that it will actively support Alibaba<img decoding="async" class="trade-card__loading" layout="fixed" height="50" width="50" src="https://assets.pandaily.com/uploads/2021/12/loading.png" placeholder /> and the Cainiao Network to build a super digital eHub in Liège. In the future, Liège will be the logistic center connecting the transportation of goods between Europe and China.

In addition, Alibaba<img decoding="async" class="trade-card__loading" layout="fixed" height="50" width="50" src="https://assets.pandaily.com/uploads/2021/12/loading.png" placeholder /> also plans to expand the route from Europe to the Americas.

Jack Ma, the co-founder and chairman executive of the company, stressed that this cooperation will bring much room for European SMEs in the development.

According to reports from the Cainiao platform, nearly two million packages are in circulation between China and Belgium. 95 percent of Belgian companies are small and medium-sized enterprises that need an eHub to enter the broader Chinese and global markets.

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