Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu integrates domestic and overseas e-commerce, appoints Jiang Fan to be in charge

On November 21, Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu released an email to all employees announcing the establishment of the Alibaba E-commerce Business Group, appointing Jiang Fan to lead it, reporting directly to Eddie Wu. The new e-commerce business group will fully integrate Taobao Tmall Group, International Digital Commerce Group, as well as e-commerce businesses like 1688 and Xianyu, forming a business cluster that covers the entire domestic and international industrial chain.

The establishment of the new e-commerce business group represents Eddie Wu's new thoughts and actions as Alibaba Group CEO on how to effectively utilize both domestic and international resources to create a development synergy in the e-commerce field. This move demonstrates Alibaba's determination to invest in its core e-commerce business and better support merchants in capturing global market opportunities through significant synergies for greater growth.

In September last year, Eddie Wu took over as CEO of Alibaba Group and subsequently clarified the strategic focus of "user-first, AI-driven," making strategic trade-offs to concentrate on core businesses while also serving as CEO of Taotian Group and Cloud Intelligence Group, promoting a younger management team and implementing bold reforms in organizational structure and business strategy.

Over the past year, various business segments have maintained healthy growth. The latest financial report released by Alibaba on November 15 shows that the GMV of Taobao Tmall during the 2024 Double 11 event saw strong growth, with the number of buyers reaching a historic high and the 88VIP membership scale reaching 46 million; Alibaba Cloud's revenue growth continues to accelerate, with AI-related revenue experiencing triple-digit growth for five consecutive quarters; the International Digital Commerce Group saw a robust revenue increase of 29%; while the Local Life Group and the Big Entertainment Group significantly narrowed their losses.

"The times are advancing rapidly, and Alibaba, at 25 years old, must maintain an entrepreneurial mindset, continuously innovate, and fulfill its mission of serving small and medium-sized enterprises, continuously creating value for society," Eddie Wu said in the email to all employees. The e-commerce landscape in China and globally is entering a new era, where global supply chain capabilities, fulfillment capabilities, and consumer service capabilities will determine the future competitive landscape. The Alibaba E-commerce Business Group will stimulate the capabilities accumulated over the years by integrating all e-commerce resources within the group, serving both domestic and global consumers, while also helping more small and medium-sized enterprises expand into domestic and overseas markets simultaneously.

Over the past year, Taobao Tmall and overseas e-commerce have gradually moved towards integration and connectivity. In July this year, Taobao launched the "Global Free Shipping Plan for Fashion," leading fashion merchants to venture overseas first, investing 1 billion to turn Hong Kong into a free shipping zone. In September, Taobao also launched an English version in Malaysia and Singapore.

Behind Taobao and 1688 are over ten million small and medium-sized enterprises, representing a rich and high-quality supply that is highly competitive in the global market. The integration of domestic and international e-commerce means that Alibaba's e-commerce business will move towards a broader incremental market.

With this round of adjustments, Alibaba's focus on the development of core businesses has become clearer. Eddie Wu stated that e-commerce and AI technology are the group's most critical development directions. In terms of AI, we will continue to increase investment, promote an AI-driven productivity revolution, improve AI infrastructure and supporting systems, adhere to open-source principles, and continuously invest in AI product research and development in both B2B and B2C fields to seize the opportunities of the AI era