PARIS: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will be soon be opening offices in Italy, France and Germany, a senior executive said on Tuesday, as the Chinese e-commerce giant ramps up international expansion efforts amid slowing Chinese economic growth.
Alibaba President Michael Evans said the offices, set to be opened in the coming months, were Alibaba’s latest moves to expand the company’s presence in Europe, the US, Asia and elsewhere. Mr Evans referred to the planned new offices in remarks at an Alibaba event to promote this year’s Singles Day event, a sales festival that takes place on November 11.
Chief Executive Daniel Zhang said that for this year’s discount festival, Alibaba is promoting the sale of products from other countries to Chinese consumers as well as that of Chinese products to overseas buyers, reflecting the company’s increasing focus on looking abroad to expand its user base and range of products.
Singles Day is China’s largest online shopping day. Last year, Alibaba set a record as its marketplaces hosted $US9.3 billion in sales, though the rate of growth was slower than in the previous year.
Alibaba has been faced with slowing Chinese economic growth and increasing saturation in its core urban markets, prompting the company to expand into rural areas and overseas.
