China Ocean Shipping Group and Alibaba have teamed up in Guangzhou, where the mainland’s biggest shipping and logistics firm will provide logistical services for the e-commerce giant in cross-border merchandising as both companies look to bolster their share in the burgeoning market.
The Guangzhou branch of Cosco Air, a subsidiary of Cosco Logisitcs which is part of the Cosco Group, will help fulfil orders by shoppers on Tmall Global, a brand launched by Alibaba in February to cater to the mainland consumers’ rising appetite for branded products overseas.
Cosco said in a statement that it would handle customs clearance, bonded warehousing, and delivery of all goods imported into Guangzhou, one of the seven cities chosen by China Customs early this year to experiment cross-border e-commerce.
The tie-up with Cosco marks the second co-operation between Alibaba and a state-owned shipping company. In July, Alibaba signed a framework deal with China Shipping Container Lines and China Shipping Network Technology, offshoots of Shanghai-based China Shipping Group, to develop an integrated logistics platform for small and medium sized enterprises.
Cross-border e-commerce is one of the areas that Alibaba is eyeing for growth. The firm for the first time enlisted Tmall Global and AliExpress, both international shopping platforms, in this year’s “Singles Day” shopping festival on November 11.
Alibaba recorded 57.1 billion yuan (HK$72 billion) in gross merchandise volume, an all-time high since the festival was introduced in 2009. Other than Guangzhou, Alibaba is also licensed to operate in cross-border e-commerce in its head office Hangzhou and Ningbo.