Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba.com Group, operator of Yahoo China, has teamed up with China Post to boost its offline logistic system and increase online payment users, the two parties announced yesterday.

The tie-up will help Alibaba to penetrate underdeveloped e-commerce regions like the rural areas using China Post's most extensive parcel delivery and money remittance network, said Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Alibaba. "It's the most important strategic partnership we have ever entered since the establishment of Alibaba," said Ma.

Previously, Alibaba.com Group, operator of China's largest online market place alibaba.com and the country's biggest auction site taobao.com, just recommended on its sites several privately run express delivery companies whose networks don't cover the whole country.

Ma said as one of China's most trusted brands, China Post will enhance traders' confidence in e-commerce and they have also worked out a mechanism to offer full compensation for traders in case of commodity damage and loss during transport.

Under the agreement, China Post and Alibaba's online payment tool Alipay will shortly launch a parcel service for online purchases at China Post's 66,000 branches nationwide, called e-Youbao, which will be 50 percent cheaper than the post office's common Express Mail Service, and similar to the price offered by privately run express delivery companies.

China Post's 140 million users of its Green Card debit service can also pay online through Alipay, like other bank cards whose issuers cooperate with Alibaba. More than 250,000 deals a day were done through Alipay, but only 15,000 deals are completed through its recommended express delivery firms.

Source:佚名