Alibaba Vows to Import $200 Billion International Goods to China

Today at the CIIE, Alibaba Group promised to help import $200 billion worth of goods from more than 120 countries over the next five years, underscoring the company’s long-term commitment to globalization and efforts to meet Chinese consumers’ rising demand for high-quality international products.

“Globalization is one of Alibaba’s most critical long-term growth strategies. We are building the future infrastructure of commerce to create a globalized digital economy where trade is possible in every country around the world,” said Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group. “Leveraging Alibaba’s innovative technology and robust ecosystem, we are committed to making global trade more inclusive and fulfilling our mission ‘to make it easy to do business anywhere’ in the digital era.”

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According to Zhang, between 2019 and 2023, Alibaba will help import international goods from businesses of all sizes in countries such as Germany, Japan, Australia, U.S., and South Korea. Several top global brands including P&G, Nestlé, JBS, and Refa, touted their holistic partnership with the Alibaba ecosystem.

“China’s middle class is booming. As incomes are rising in China, consumers want faster access to and a wider variety of high-quality products from around the world,” said Alvin Liu, General Manager of Tmall Import and Export. “Tmall is uniquely positioned to help international brands tap into the growing China market as consumers seek to upgrade their lifestyle.”

According to a joint report by Deloitte China, the China Chamber of International Commerce, and AliResearch, China’s robust economic growth in recent years has increased the number of middle-to-high income Chinese consumers, who are fueling the demand for imported, quality goods.

The report notes that China’s cross-border e-commerce market has grown remarkably, with the proportion of imports to total e-commerce sales growing from 1.6 percent in 2014 to 10.2 percent in 2017. The report also highlights that, between 2014 and 2017, the number of shoppers on Alibaba’s platform for cross-border shopping, Tmall Global, has grown ten-fold.