Alibaba Group and Canadian Government Sign Cooperation Agreement to Connect Small Businesses with Chinese Consumers

Alibaba launches Canadian Pavilion on Tmall Global; Air Canada and
Alitrip sign deal

HANGZHOU, China–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alibaba Group Executive Chairman Jack Ma and Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau today unveiled a declaration of cooperation that will
strengthen efforts to promote trade between Canadian small and medium
sized businesses and Chinese consumers.

Both Mr. Ma and Prime Minister Trudeau said at a ceremony at Alibaba
Group’s head office that the cooperation agreement empowers the Canadian
Trade Commissioner Service and Alibaba to work together to expand the
two-way flow of goods, services and people. The two sides will
strategize on how to use e-commerce to stimulate trade, with
opportunities for Canadian small and medium-sized exporters.

“Today, I am pleased we are formalizing our efforts to have Alibaba
serve as the gateway to China for Canadian businesses of all sizes,” Mr.
Ma said. “Our agreements today represent a great opportunity for Canada
and for China. It is a new chapter in our future together.”

“Today is a very good day for Canadian businesses. They now have a
permanent e-home on the world’s biggest online shopping site – Alibaba –
and with it, the ability to reach over 400 million Chinese consumers.
There is significant potential for further business development with
Alibaba, which would encourage Chinese tourism to Canada, create jobs at
home and strengthen our middle-class,” said Prime Minister Trudeau.

The ceremony also highlighted two other milestones:

Mr. Ma and Prime Minister Trudeau launched the Canadian Pavilion on
Alibaba’s shopping platform, Tmall Global. The Canadian Pavilion makes
it possible for Canadian businesses large and small to directly reach
Chinese consumers. It was launched with more than 30 businesses
participating, selling more than 100 products. It will feature special
promotions for unique Canadian products such as apparel, ice wine, maple
syrup, seafood and health products.

Mr. Ma and Prime Minister Trudeau also witnessed the signing of a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Air Canada, the country’s
largest air carrier, and Alitrip, Alibaba’s online travel booking
platform, providing Chinese consumers with a range of travel and
vacation packages, as well as visa application services.

The MOU links Air Canada with Alitrip’s customer base and marketing
resources to tap China’s burgeoning travel demand for Canada. Air Canada
agreed to open a flagship store on the Alitrip platform. Both agreed to
work together to develop marketing initiatives and carry out joint
marketing promotions.

About Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. It
is the largest retail commerce company in the world in terms of gross
merchandise volume. Founded in 1999, the company provides the
fundamental technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help
merchants, brands and other businesses that provide products, services
and digital content to leverage the power of the Internet to engage with
their users and customers.

Contacts

Alibaba Group
Robert H. Christie, +1 917-860-9410
bob.christie@alibaba-inc.com