Alibaba to launch B2B platform in U.S. by year end

By IBTimes Staff Reporter | September 11 2009 1:40 PM

China's Alibaba Group said on Friday it will launch an international business-to-business (B2B) platform in the United States by the end of the year, as the company seeks to globalize its brand.

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Alibaba Group's subsidiary Alibaba.com's B2B platform connects millions of registered small-business buyers and sellers of Chinese products online.

Jack Ma, chief executive of Alibaba Group, discussed the new platform -- Ali Express (http://wholesale.alibaba.com) -- at a business conference in Hangzhou.

Alibaba Group is also the parent of Taobao, China's largest online auction site, and Alipay, an online payment service provider.

The new platform is currently in a testing phase, said an Alibaba spokeswoman, declining to give more details.

Alibaba.com opened its European headquarters earlier this month and recently launched a $30 million global advertising campaign.

The firm has also said it is considering setting up a joint venture company in India to manage its B2B platform.

U.S. search engine Yahoo holds about 40 percent of Alibaba Group and has an investment of more than 1 percent in the listed firm.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Rupert Winchester)