Alibaba opens doors to Italian products in China

(AGI) Hangzhou (China), May 27 - E-commerce giant Alibaba has opened its doors to Italian institutions and entrepreneurs in China. The group founded by Jack Ma in 1999 aims to raise the number of foreign products sold on its websites over the coming five years, especially on the Tmall Global site, launched in February 2014 for a B2C segment that increasingly meets the tastes and demands of China's new middle class. According to estimates from Alibaba's management, the value of goods imported and sold on Alibaba's website will reach 245 billion dollars in 2020 compared to the current 21 billion dollars. Agri-food, baby products, and electronics are already among the China's top selling products online, and the numbers could be even larger in the future. "We had a very productive meeting with Vice President Daniel Zhang and we examined the potential that this website can offer to Italian business," said Italy's Ambassador to China, Ettore Sequi. E-commerce, he explained, "can be very useful in promoting certain Italian products that aren't doing too well in China", such as wine. "We're fifth for imports," he noted, despite Italy being "the world's largest wine producer and at the top of the ranks for wine exports in 2015. This website will certainly be able to offer opportunities in this field too." On top of e-commerce, Alibaba's activities also include financial services, cloud computing, and big data. The company is present in 224 countries and regions, and aims to achieve "flexible technology to build an infrastructure for commerce at a global level" affirmed the head of Alibaba's Public Affairs Department, Albert Zheng. Hanghzou is one of the cities in which internet companies are growing fastest: a short distance from Alibaba's headquarters is the "Dream Town" of start-ups, which currently counts over 500 new businesses and is geared towards reaching ten thousand new groups in the internet and services sector, from finance to tourism and logistics. Among its financial resources are investments from local business, public subsidies, and most of all Alibaba, with its business headquarters located a few kilometres away. (AGI). .