Alibaba.com provides UK route to China
Jack Ma, head of Alibaba.com, the e-commerce firm has announced ambitious plans to launch an online platform, which will encourage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK to export their products to the world’s most populated country. This new service is termed ‘Export to China, Export to the World’ and will be launched in the second half of 2008. It’s aimed at the 268,000 Britons who are already members of Alibaba.com. The web site is currently drawing 2,000 new members in the UK every week.
David Wei, CEO of Alibaba.com and a former executive at B&Q in China, said: “In high-technology engineering products, where the UK is still extremely competitive, and in areas like patents and intellectual property, there’s a major opportunity for UK SMEs to export to China.”
Alibaba.com is a Hong Kong-listed unit of Alibaba Group, including one of China’s biggest consumer web sites and a substantial online auction business. Wei said the firm continued to have an open mind about stock market listings for its other divisions. “We’re keeping all options on the table,” he said. Last week, Alibaba.com released its maiden results as a public firm, reporting a 200 per cent increase in operating profit.
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