Alibaba joins forces with Switzerland’s Dufry to shake up China’s huge, fast-growing duty-free airport shopping market
- The e-commerce giant and the Swiss duty-free retail juggernaut will set up a joint venture in China as Covid-19 boosts domestic travel spending
- The move could give rise to a serious contender to challenge China Duty Free Group’s monopoly over the market, analysts say

The two companies have agreed to form a joint venture in China, while Alibaba will buy a stake of up to 10 per cent in the cash-strapped, Switzerland-listed Dufry for 250 million Swiss francs (US$273 million), according to a statement by Dufry on Monday. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
It could also introduce a strong contender into a market that has been dominated by a single firm – the state-owned China Duty Free Group.
The collaboration “will have a big impact on the duty-free market in China, given Alibaba’s strong digital capabilities and Dufry’s expertise in running duty-free business,” said Veronica Wang, partner at retail industry consultancy OC&C Strategy Consultants.
“From the supply side, the Chinese government is also encouraging the market’s development by issuing more licences” to operators and increasing competition, she said.
