China’s Alibaba partners with banks, agencies to introduce B2B financing and rating services
Alibaba and trade show giant UBM also plan to pilot a new online platform connecting suppliers and buyers at five Asia-based conventions in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai
China’s e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with more than 25 banks and credit rating agencies globally to provide cross-border trade financing for SMEs as well as a new credit reporting service.
The move comes as the company continues to ramp up its business-to-business (B2B) ecosystem globally by cooperating with offline industries.
By building up the credit profiles of Chinese SMEs based on business-related data, Alibaba.com’s credit reporting service can help overseas buyers identify trustworthy trading partners and provide Chinese suppliers access to innovative financing options
Alibaba is an online platform that evolved from a directory of Chinese suppliers to a one-stop platform providing a variety of services for international buyers and suppliers, including logistics and business verification services.
“To Alibaba, regardless of B2B exports or imports, the ecosystem is very important. The Alibaba mission is to make it easy to do any type of business,” Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang said at a conference Tuesday in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. The group is headquartered in this affluent city in East China, also the birthplace of founder and chairman Jack Ma Yun.
Mainland Chinese partners for Alibaba’s latest initiative to finance SMEs include Alibaba-backed internet bank MYBank, as well as Bank of China and China Merchants Bank.
