Alibaba, Austrade to collaborate to boost Australian exports to China

HANGZHOU –Alibaba and Austrade have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to strengthen trade opportunities by expanding the variety of Australian products sold to some of Alibaba’s hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers through Alibaba e-commerce platforms.

The agreement aims to broaden Alibaba’s existing partnership with Austrade by providing dedicated services for Australian products and leveraging digital content to build brand Australia abroad.

The businesses to be explored by Alibaba and Austrade under the strategic collaboration are wide-ranging, but a key highlight is the introduction of an annual “Australian Fresh Food Week” sales promotion and education event on Tmall Fresh, Tmall’s fresh food channel, advancing the interests of Australian companies that export dairy, meat, seafood, fruit and other fresh produce.
Alibaba Group also plans to establish a channel on Youku.com, a leading provider of video and streaming services in China with over 500 million monthly active users, to further promote fresh Australian produce and advance the perception of Australian products in the eyes of Chinese consumers.
A key focus of the Austrade/Alibaba partnership will be targetting first time exporters, particularly SMEs, and facilitating access to Alibaba assistance in commercialising new digital technology and services in China.
 
.Maggie Zhou, Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand for Alibaba, described Australia as a key market for Alibaba.
“We are excited to extend our collaboration with Austrade to cultivate successful Australian exporters that are capitalising on China’s expanding middle class,” she said., adding that Alibaba will open an office in Melbourne later this year.  www.alibaba.com www.austrade.gov (ATI).