During “Single’s Day”, the eagerly awaited shopping festival founded by Alibaba, the Chinese giant reported record sales worth $ 84.5 billion. What future for China’s online shopping industry? Rodrigo Cipriani Foresio, General Manager for southern Europe of Alibaba, explains this to Sky TG24 Business. VIDEO
“The e-commerce market in China is worth 1.9 trillion dollars. A huge figure, equal to three times the value of the sector in the United States. And it is a number that is destined to grow: today’s middle class, in China, counts 500 million people, but estimates say that in the next two or three years it will reach 700 million. And the middle class is getting closer to e-commerce “. Like this Rodrigo Cipriani Foresio, General Manager for Southern Europe of Alibaba, at Sky TG24 Business.
The record sales recorded during the shopping festival (84.5 billion dollars), however, discount a growth rate of 8.5%. The lowest ever since the event was born in 2009. It weighs on the shortage of raw materials, the energy crisis and bottlenecks in the global supply chain. Alibaba reacted by building a sorting hub in Liege, Belgium, which will allow it to increase its profits in Europe, opening up a potential challenge with Amazon. Foresio, however, specifies that “Alibaba’s business is mainly focused on the growing internal demand of its consumers. We are more of an import company than an export company. We are confident that the Chinese government will continue to support the import of goods from Worldwide”.
Grains with Beijing
Yet relations between Beijing and the giant are not the rosiest. In November 2020, the Chinese government blocked the listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong of Ant Group, the Alibaba sub-fund specializing in digital payments. Shortly thereafter, in April, a $ 2.8 billion fine was received for abuse of a dominant position. Specifically, the accusation made against the giant is that it has “invited” merchants to exploit only its platform for online sales, limiting competition. More recent are the rumors that China is determined to dismember Alipay, the app that offers loans and boasts more than a billion users, from the parent company Alibaba. The stock, in response, halved its stock market value over the course of a year.
On the subject, Foresio told Sky TG24 Business how “competition has always been important and stimulating for us. We always respect the decisions of the Beijing government”.
In the November 17 episode of Sky TG24 Business, space will also be given to the issue of inflation and the renewal of Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve, with Vincenzo Longo, IG’s Premium Client Manager.
Source-tg24.sky.it