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Alibaba commits to importing $200 billion in international goods

Alibaba ReutersChina’s Alibaba Group has announced that it will import $200 billion global products from over 120 countries over the next five years.

Alibaba will push the importation of more international goods from Australia, US, GermanyJapan and South Korea between 2019 and 2023.

This includes major global brands including P&G, Nestle, JBS and Refa. The brands will help them engage more with China’s middle class. The e-commerce giant’s latest move to strengthen globalisation, meets the rising demand of Chinese consumers for more high quality international goods.

“Globalisation is one of Alibaba’s most critical long-term growth strategies. We are building the future infrastructure of commerce to realise a globalised digital economy where trade is possible for 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.”

Alibaba’s $200 billion goal was unveiled at the Global Import Leadership Summit. It was held at the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

“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.”

The latest reports from Deloitte China, the China Chamber of International Commerce and AliResearch have shown that the Asian country’s economic growth in recent years has increased the population of the middle and high income Chinese consumers. They boost the demand for imported, quality goods. China’s cross-border e-commerce market has been growing significantly, wherein imports total e-commerce sales growth from 1.6 per cent in 2014 to 10.2 per cent in 2017.

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