Relax, American ecommerce business owners – Alibaba Group Chairman Jack Ma is here to help you, not take over the American ecommerce landscape.
Rather, Ma said in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal that Alibaba Group wants to make it easier for U.S.-based merchants to sell more of their products to Chinese consumers.
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“Alibaba Group was founded in China but created for the world,” Ma wrote in the op-ed piece. “We want to connect small businesses in the West with the largest, fastest-growing market in the East.”
Ma wrote that this strategy may come as a surprise to some, because “many people view China through an outdated lens.” Ma added that “the China of 2015 is virtually unrecognizable from the country a decade ago,” thanks to a thriving middle class equal in size to the entire U.S. population, and is expected to double within seven years.
“This is an enormous number of new consumers with plenty of disposable income. How they spend it is important for America’s small businesses,” wrote Ma.
Ma spoke at The Economic Club of New York on June 9 about the company’s U.S. strategy and international growth plans. In his speech, Ma highlighted how Alibaba Group envisions to help American entrepreneurs, small business owners, brands and companies of all sizes sell their goods to the growing Chinese consumer class.
In turn, Alibaba Group said in an email that this will help create American jobs and increase U.S. exports.