Internet and e-commerce
Alibaba Group阿里巴巴
About the company
E-commerce, cloud and AI, started in a flat in Hangzhou
Alibaba began as a platform on which Chinese SMEs traded with the world. Then came Taobao, Alipay, the logistics network Cainiao and Alibaba Cloud. Today the group is going all in on AI: in early 2025 it pledged to invest at least 380 billion yuan in AI and cloud over three years, and its open Qwen models are among the most downloaded in the world.
Alibaba Group runs online marketplaces such as Taobao, Tmall and AliExpress, as well as Alibaba Cloud, the logistics company Cainiao and the Qwen AI models. Jack Ma founded it on 28 June 1999 with 17 friends and students in his Hangzhou flat; the head office is now on the Xixi campus in Yuhang District. In the financial year to the end of March 2026, revenue rose 3 per cent to 1,023.7 billion yuan, and the group had 131,462 employees. Its 2014 stock market debut in New York raised 25 billion dollars.
In 2018 Belgium became the first European country to sign an eWTP agreement with Alibaba. Since 2021 Cainiao has been sorting parcels for the whole of Europe at Liège Airport, in a 30,000 m² hall.
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Presentation
The briefing ChinaConnect prepared for the business delegation of October 2026, in Dutch. Browse with the arrows, swipe or pick a chapter.
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