Alibaba establishes brand new cross-border service model in Guanshanhu

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, a Chinese technology company specializing in e-commerce, retail, the internet and technology, released its new cross-border e-commerce comprehensive service model 2.0 in Guanshanhu district, Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou province on June 24. 

The new service model, which is tailored to the needs of self-employed individuals and micro- and small-sized enterprises in the province, will develop new operational forms, such as B2B, B2C, foreign trade and "We Media". 

Zhao Zhouliang, general manager of Alibaba's cross-border e-commerce service center in Guizhou, said that since May 2016, Alibaba has been introduced to Guanshanhu district as a key investor. The services provided by the center are aimed at assisting traditional firms in exploring overseas markets through e-commerce, helping them to cultivate professional businessmen who excel at running cross-border e-commerce businesses, and solving problems that exist in export income declarations, logistics and financial loans. 

From 2016-17, the Alibaba platform helped Guizhou-based firms to get acquainted with foreign trade and cross-border e-commerce, which contributed to a surge in the number of cross-border e-commerce firms from six to 140. From 2019-20, the platform offered free training courses to local existing and newly-established cross-border e-commerce operators, and formulated professional operation teams for companies willing to develop foreign trade but lacking related experience, according to Zhao. 

The platform then turned its focus to building Guizhou's brands, which has brought business opportunities from across the globe and boosted local foreign trade volumes.

During the widespread lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, the platform also overcame the adverse foreign trade situation, by putting on online exhibitions and livestreaming Guizhou-made products. 

Speaking of the necessity of creating a brand-new service platform, Zhao said that lots of business-starters and micro- and small-sized enterprises used to show great interest in the cross-border e-commerce area, but were often handicapped by the high-demand entry levels inflicted by a single platform, and by possible problems arising in operation.  

The new platform is expected to extend the industrial chain of cross-border ecommerce in Guizhou.