China's biggest e-commerce operator will enter France, Italy and Germany within the next few months, President Michael Evans said at Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou.
With a slowing domestic economy, Alibaba is stepping up its global ambitions to turn around investor sentiment battered by a $117bn slide in market value since November. With less than a month until Singles’ Day, the busiest shopping promotion on the Chinese calendar, the company is looking to lure global merchants to sell to the country’s rising middle class.
“China should shift from exporting to importing,” Chairman Jack Ma said in Hangzhou. “This is a huge change for China, it’s an opportunity not only for China, it’s an opportunity for the world.”
