The business development general manager of Alibaba Tmall, John O'Loghlen, announced that its newly launched Australian Office would build on the Chinese relationship that will put Australian brands spread worldwide.
O'Loghlen said: "Australia and New Zealand are gifted with an incredible phenomenon right now which is the Chinese resident and student visitor to Australia. When I speak to colleagues in Europe and North America, they would love to have the penetration of Chinese in their communities that we do here because it doesn’t exist anywhere else."
It is reported that there are 3 million Chinese who are either visiting or living in New Zealand and Australia every year.
Alibaba owns e-commerce sites Tmall, Taobao, and Alibaba.com. It just opened its first Australian office in Melbourne earlier this month. The office currently has 30 employees that are spread throughout Australia.
“Chinese want to live your lifestyle, they really want to enjoy the Australian, New Zealand experience, they want to wear it, they want to put it on their skin, they want to ingest it, their kids are going to school here, they are effectively becoming Australians and New Zealanders by buying these products,” O’Loghlen added.
O'Loghlen also said that Jack Ma, the owner of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., didn't believe that there was room for more food to be grown in China due to the restrictions on land and water. This opens an opportunity for food providers from Australia.
Jack Ma also made a $26 million donation to Newcastle University Australia after building strong personal links with a local family that he met in his hometown of Hangzhou.
Alibaba also signed a memorandum of understanding with Australia Post, which enables the postal service to enter the South-East Asian market through virtual storefronts on the Lazada platform.