Alipay and Taobao Expand in Australia, Helping Local Businesses Reach China

As a part of its global expansion, Alibaba announced today that both its payment affiliate Alipay and Taobao marketplace are committed to bringing Australian products, brands and businesses closer to Chinese customers. This move is expected to boost Chinese consumption of Australian products by connecting Australian consumers with Chinese manufacturers.

Alipay has established a Sydney-based venture, Alipay Australia, which will work closely with Paybang, a joint venture by Alipay, in facilitating cross-border trade between the two countries.

In addition, Alipay has been working with Australia Post to sell, distribute and promote the Alipay purchase card across 4,400 retail outlets for Australian shoppers using Tmall.com and Taobao.

Taobao launched its official Taobao Australia E-commerce Channel to bring high-quality food and agricultural products straight to Chinese customers, with Melbourne-based digital solution provider Zoyu Digital helping source authentic Australian products. In partnership with the major Chinese logistics company Sinotrans, Zoyu Digital will help Australian businesses distribute to customers, handling product, sourcing, logistics, custom clearance, marketing and sales, and payment collection.

China and Australia have sealed a major free trade agreement, which means that majority of Australian exports to the Chinese market will become tariff-free over the next four to eight years. This deal will further boost cross-border e-commerce between China and Australia.

With increasing concern for food safety and higher levels of disposable income, Chinese consumers are keen on safe and healthy food from overseas. Statistics from the China E-commerce Research Center show that China’s online overseas market is estimated to reach RMB140 billion by the end of this year. And Australia is one of the most popular shopping destinations among Chinese cross-border online buyers.

Chinese investors are also seeing the potentials of this market. Metao, a cross-border e-commerce platform, just received Series B financing led by Vertex Venture.

Editing by Mike Cormack (@bucketoftongues)