Alibaba Group Makes Strategic Investment in Koubei.com

Investment in leading Chinese community-based classifieds website to complement Alibaba Group's e-commerce portfolio, help drive e-commerce growth in China

Hangzhou, China, 30 October 2006-Alibaba Group, China's leading e-commerce company and the world's largest online B2B marketplace for global trade, announced today that it has entered into an agreement for a strategic investment in Koubei.com, one of China's largest classified listing and community websites. With the investment in Koubei, terms of which were not disclosed, Alibaba has gained a significant exposure in one of China's fastest-growing e-commerce segments.

Koubei.com, which means "word of mouth" in Chinese, was founded in Hangzhou in June 2004. In little over two years, it has become one of China's most popular classified listing and community websites. It offers local classifieds and discussion forums for people to find and share information on apartment rentals, restaurants, entertainment, employment, goods and services, and just about anything else. Koubei.com has sites tailored to multiple cities in China.

"Community-based classified listings are an essential part of e-commerce," said Tian Jian, Vice-President of Alibaba's investment and acquisition group, a newly formed effort to leverage the company's industry know-how and financial resources towards developing promising young companies that bring strategic synergies with Alibaba's core businesses. "Besides buying and selling products online, people want a marketplace to trade services and share information about service providers. With our investment in Koubei, we're partnering with the team that pioneered the online classified marketplace in China and opening up another channel to grow our existing e-commerce community of more than 40 million consumers and businesses in China."

The deal makes Alibaba Group the only Internet company in China with a leading position in the key growth sectors of business-to-business e-commerce, consumer e-commerce, online payments, communications and search, and now community-based online classifieds.

About Koubei.com

Koubei.com was founded in Hangzhou in June 2004 and is one of China's largest online classified listing companies. It offers local classifieds and discussion forums for multiple cities in China allowing people to find and share information on apartment rentals, restaurants, entertainment, employment, goods and services, and just about anything else. Koubei.com has over two million registered users.

Source: http://news.alibaba.com/

Alibaba.com and Koelnmesse Form Strategic Alliance in Asia

Hong Kong, July 20, 2007 - Alibaba.com, the most-visited B2B marketplace on the Internet in terms of user traffic, and Koelnmesse, one of the world's largest trade fair organizers, today formed a strategic alliance covering joint marketing activities for trade fairs in Asia.

Alibaba.com and Koelnmesse will initially collaborate to promote the China International Hardware Show, the world's second largest hardware show, and leading food fairs including Sweets China, International Sweet&SnackTec China 2007, World of Food China and International FoodTec China. The two companies intend to explore a similar partnership arrangement for trade fairs in Europe.

"This alliance is a win-win for both parties," said Mr. Michael Dreyer, Vice President Asia Pacific, Koelnmesse. "We are confident that Alibaba.com's Trade Show Partnership program will help us effectively promote our events to the online community and bring in more participants. Alibaba.com will benefit by promoting their online service to buyers and sellers who participate in our events."

David Wei, President of Alibaba.com, said, "We are delighted that Koelnmesse, one of the world's premier trade show organizers, has joined our Trade Show Partnership program. Our strength in Asia and Koelnmesse's well-established base in Europe complement each other well. By working together, we can become an even more powerful facilitator of world trade for buyers and sellers everywhere."

Alibaba.com's Trade Show Partnership program is bringing together the combined forces of leading trade fair and exhibition companies and one of the world's largest online B2B marketplaces. This partnership is aimed at increasing attendance at Koelnmesse trade shows, promoting Alibaba.com to Koelnmesse's international and German domestic customers and giving exhibitors and buyers the benefit of the best sourcing opportunities online and offline.

In 2006, Koelnmesse held its three food fairs in Shanghai concurrently for the first time, creating immense synergy for different sectors of the food production chain. The fairs received almost 30,000 trade visitors and featured around 500 exhibitors.

Around the world, Koelnmesse organized 74 trade fairs and exhibitions last year in over 25 trade sectors, including major trade fairs such as International Hardware Fair/PRACTICAL WORLD, Asia-Pacific Sourcing, spoga + gafa, Anuga and ISM. Its main exhibition ground in Cologne, Germany attracts around two million buyers from more than 200 countries every year. For more information on Koelnmesse trade fairs and events abroad, please visit www.koelnmesse.com.

source: http://news.alibaba.com/

The global trade in green products is increasing dramatically, according to popular searches on Alibaba.com, the world’s leading B2B e-commerce company.

Analysts had forecast that the multibillion-dollar green products market would lose momentum as consumers worldwide curtail their spending due to the economic downturn, but this trend is not supported by data collected by Alibaba.com. In fact, searches for alternative energy resources such as solar and wind, electric cars, bio-diesel and organic products increased steadily on Alibaba.com over the past two years, driven by growing mainstream environmental awareness, especially in developed countries along with large-scale government initiatives towards clean energy.

Historic rises in oil prices, which peaked at a record US$147 per barrel in the third quarter of 2008, further intensified global attention on the need for alternative energy. This is clearly reflected in the 67 percent increase in searches, particularly for solar energy products, on Alibaba.com during the same period compared to the third quarter of 2007, when oil prices were just US$77 per barrel.

Solar-powered energy and organic products are the fastest growing green sectors on Alibaba.com, increasing 71 percent and 68 percent year-on-year, respectively, in the first quarter of 2009. Solar lights are among the hottest green items sold online as some countries in Europe as well as the US move to replace traditional street lights with sun-powered alternatives. This trend is not just at a governmental level, as businesses and factories also move towards solar power for their outdoor lighting. Power savings and consumption reduction used to be the main objective for this shift, but the recession has brought other imperatives to the forefront, such as cost cutting.

“Despite the downturn, online trade in environmentally friendly products is holding up well. This is because going green not only saves money but also creates money, especially as more entrepreneurs develop innovative products to support growing global demand. Also, many consumer-based green options, such as switching to solar lights, both make economic sense and protect the environment. Entrepreneurs and SMEs are realizing that green is good business, as long as there is a fiscal motivation as well as an environmental one,” said David Wei, the CEO of Alibaba.com.

While consumers are lured to the “feel good” and cost-saving benefits of the green sector, entrepreneurs see a new growth industry with lots of business potential. Green technology is becoming more accessible to businesses of all sizes as costs are declining, and favorable government legislation and tax subsidies make it more sustainable. All these factors have led to exponential growth of the market for green goods.

“Climate change is having a positive impact on our business. Our sales have been growing by 30 to 40 percent over the past three years thanks to strong demand for green products from customers in the US, Europe, Middle East and Southeast Asia. Solar lighting products are our most popular selling items,” said Xiao Benpeng, the International Trade Manager for Huangshi Donper Mech-Electric Group Solar Energy Co., Ltd., a Hubei-based company specializing in high-tech solar energy products and a member of Alibaba.com.

According to US President Barack Obama's stimulus bill, 10 percent of the funding will be allocated to environmental projects. In his inauguration speech, Obama pledged that America “will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories,” which has set the tone for the West, while China is committed to generate 16 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

“Around US$30 billion of China’s huge stimulus package is to be invested in energy conservation and ecological engineering. These large scale projects are going to have a major impact in driving awareness of green power and the desire for smaller-scale eco-friendly alternatives will escalate significantly, if not exponentially. Green is one of the new opportunities for entrepreneurs around the world, and e-commerce is clearly going to be the platform through which a significant amount of that business is conducted,” Wei concluded.

Source: http://uk.sys-con.com/node/927812

Alibaba.com Opens Taiwan Office

Launch of Gold Supplier Membership to Boost Taiwan’s Export Competitiveness

Taipei, Taiwan – July 24, 2008 – Alibaba.com today opened its fourth functional office outside mainland China. The new Taipei office will be able to better serve its 40,000 local members and enable more small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan to grow their business through e-commerce. Alibaba.com's three websites – for global trade, domestic trade in mainland China and trade with Japan – collectively form a business community of close to 30 million registered users from over 240 countries and regions.

Taiwan is a priority market for Alibaba.com and the company is committed to bringing global trade opportunities to Taiwan SMEs by helping them reach millions of buyers and sellers around the world. Alibaba.com is the only business-to-business e-commerce company that connects its Taiwan members with potential trading partners in mainland China, emerging markets like India and developed markets like Japan, Europe and the US on one single platform.

In 2007, there were over 1.2 million SMEs in Taiwan, accounting for around 98% of all
enterprises[1] and more than 220,000 of them were engaged in export related businesses[2]. With the saturation and slowing of Taiwan's domestic market, it has become more crucial for local SMEs to engage in international trade to stay competitive. However, official statistics estimate that SMEs contribute only around 18% of Taiwan's total export sales. This compares to around 40% of exports contributed by SMEs in South Korea and India, and over 60% by SMEs in mainland China.

Steve Kang, Senior Business Manager, Alibaba.com Taiwan, commented, "In recent years, fierce competition and a flat domestic economy have cut into the profits of Taiwan businesses and traditional cost saving measures are no longer enough. SMEs in Taiwan need to increase their margins by finding new customers overseas and Alibaba.com can help them tap into the global marketplace."

Alibaba.com recently launched its Gold Supplier membership package in Taiwan. This paid service enables suppliers to gain more exposure to buyers on Alibaba.com's international marketplace by providing them with a premium storefront, priority placement in search results and high quality customer service. The Taipei office will provide local customer service, marketing and sales support, as well as conducting offline education and training for its Taiwan customers. Currently, Alibaba.com has about 2,000 paying members in Taiwan.

[1] According to the 2007 White Paper on SMEs published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan
[2] According to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA)

source: http://news.alibaba.com/