Alibaba Group Holding will speed up construction at the latest phase of its global headquarters in the Yuhang district of Hangzhou , capital of eastern Zhejiang province, after the e-commerce giant signed a fresh cooperation pact with local authorities on Wednesday. The expansion, which marks a sign of commitment for Alibaba in its home province, is expected to be fully completed by the end of 2023, according to a report by local newspaper Hangzhou Daily. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. Daniel Zhang Yong , Alibaba’s chairman and chief executive, said at the signing ceremony that the firm will continue investing in Hangzhou and other parts of the country, as it strives to be “an internationally competitive Chinese company”, according to the report. Alibaba’s Xixi campus, also in the Yuhang district, already serves as the workplace for more than 50,000 company employees. The firm is also building the head office for its smart logistics arm Cainiao and the Alibaba Damo Academy , a global research programme in cutting-edge technologies. The latest expansion of Alibaba’s network of offices in Hangzhou will form the centrepiece of an ambitious local development project called Hangzhou Future Science Town, which occupies an area that is larger than Hong Kong Island, to woo more hi-tech enterprises to the city. Apart from Alibaba, other major Chinese tech companies that have set up shop in the area include TikTok owner ByteDance , telecommunications equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co and Android smartphone maker Oppo . In October 2018, Yuhang district launched a special government office dedicated to Alibaba. This office later disappeared from the public eye after Beijing initiated an antitrust investigation into Alibaba . Alibaba’s ties with the local government warmed up again after China’s leadership, headed by President Xi Jinping , called on the country’s Big Tech companies to help lead economic growth at the conclusion of the two-day Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing last December. Alibaba denies reports it is building a global headquarters in Singapore The office expansion bolsters the commitment made by Alibaba when it signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the municipal government of Hangzhou on January 11. The cooperation pact with the city’s Yuhang district comes weeks after Alibaba denied reports that it is building a new global headquarters in Singapore . An Alibaba representative said the firm is developing a building in the city state that will provide office space for some of its businesses in Southeast Asia, including Lazada Group . Alibaba, which reduced its headcount last year, is expected to report its financial results for the December quarter later this month. It posted 3 per cent revenue growth in the September quarter after implementing cost-saving measures.