NZ govt signs Alibaba deal to boost China trade

The New Zealand government has revealed plans to form an alliance with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to strengthen trade between China and New Zealand.

The government’s international business development agency New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) signed an MoU with Alibaba to formalise discussions for the alliance.

The MoU aims to broaden Alibaba’s existing partnership with NZTE to cover new collaboration opportunities, including Alibaba providing support for New Zealand companies seeking to enter the Chinese consumer market.

With the agreement, New Zealand merchants will be able to more easily sell into China through retail or wholesale platforms. They will be able to take advantage of Alibaba’s Alipay secure online and mobile payment services.

Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms include China’s largest B2B wholesale online marketplace Alibaba.com, China’s largest third-party consumer sales platform Tmall.com and Tmall Global, which focuses on overseas imports.

“New Zealand businesses are already using Alibaba’s channels to sell a wide range of products including dairy, meat, seafood, fruit, wine, beverage, cereal, skincare and health supplements,” NZTE CEO Peter Chrisp said.

“By providing dedicated services for New Zealand products, this new arrangement offers significant opportunities for New Zealand businesses to reach more consumers as well as advocating New Zealand’s reputation as a place of open spaces, open hearts and open minds.”

Image courtesy of Andy Mitchell under CC