Alipay Goes Global

Alipay Goes Global

August 28, 2007

New Service Allows Global Retailers to Sell Directly 
to China Consumers Online

    HONG KONG, Aug. 28 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Alipay,
China's leading online payment service and a subsidiary of
the Alibaba Group, today launched a new international
service which allows consumers in Mainland China to buy
directly online from global retailers. 
    Alipay was launched in 2004 by global e-commerce
leader, and China's largest e-commerce company, the Alibaba
Group, which also owns Alibaba.com, Taobao, Yahoo! China and
Alisoft.  As of August 20, 2007, Alipay had more than 47
million users in China, growing at a rate of more than
80,000 new registered users each day.  Alipay's average
daily transaction volume exceeds RMB 150 million, handling
an average 780,000 transactions each day.
    Alipay has quickly become the online payment standard
in China's fast-developing e-commerce sector, powering both
consumer and business-to-business transactions.  According
to independent research institute Analysys, Alipay is the
largest online payment service provider in China with a
market share of over 50%.  With its service used by
Alibaba.com customers, Taobao.com customers and more than
300,000 independent merchants for transactions outside of
the Alibaba Group marketplaces, Alipay's growth has both
benefited from and contributed to the rapid growth of
e-commerce in China.
    Mr. Jack Ma, Chairman of the Alibaba Group, said,
"Our mission is to make it easy to do business
anywhere.  Alipay's trusted online payment service plays a
vital role in fulfilling that mission.  Now that Alipay is
China's most popular online payment system, it's a natural
step for us to expand the service globally."
    The new Alipay service provides trusted and convenient
transaction support for the growing number of middle-class
Chinese consumers who would otherwise need to travel
outside China to buy quality foreign products at cheaper
prices. Statistics show that shopping is the major reason
Chinese nationals travel abroad.  MasterCard forecasts that
19 million travelers from Mainland China will make overseas
trips in the second half of 2007 alone.
    Alipay's new international service enables foreign
currency transactions between Chinese consumers and
overseas retailers.  The service is the first online
payment service of its kind in China, enabling transactions
between renminbi and 12 major foreign currencies.
    "China's consumers can now shop around the world
without leaving their homes.  To buy the latest products
from Paris, London, New York and Hong Kong, all a China
consumer needs is Internet connection and an Alipay
account.  We're inviting the world's leading retailers to
partner with us to help bring foreign products to China's
consumers," said Mr. Jonathan Lu, President of Alipay.
    Alipay's first international partner retailers include
Sa Sa International Holdings Limited, a leading Asian
cosmetics retailing and beauty services group;
StrawberryNET, the world's leading provider of discounted
designer skin care, make-up, cosmetics, perfume and men's
and women's fragrances; and J Shoppers, a subsidiary of
Japan's largest listed mail order company Nissen On-line,
focusing on mail order sales outside Japan.
    Alipay expects to expand its overseas partner list to
over 100 retail websites by the end of the year, to cover
product providers ranging from cosmetics, fashion, bags and
jewelry to household and digital products.  The company also
predicts the international service will reach monthly
transaction volumes of RMB 800 million by the end of 2007.
    Alipay is working with its long-standing partners Bank
of China and China Construction Bank to provide the
international service.  Alipay has also formed a
partnership with Asiapay to jointly develop the Hong Kong
market.  Asiapay, founded in 2000, is a Hong Kong based
e-payment service provider and a partner of Yahoo! HK,
JobsDB, Golden Harvest and Hong Kong Express Airways.

    About Alipay
    Alipay ( http://www.alipay.com ) is China's leading
online payment service by both number of users and total
transaction volume.  It enables individuals and businesses
to send and receive payments online securely, easily and
quickly.  To provide Alipay, Alibaba has partnered with the
leading banks in China, as well as other international
financial institutions, including Bank of China, Industrial
and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China,
China Construction Bank, China Merchants Bank, Shanghai
Pudong Development Bank, China Post and VISA. 

    About Alibaba Group
    The Alibaba Group is a global e-commerce leader and the
largest e-commerce company in China.  The first Alibaba
Group company, Alibaba.com, was founded in 1999.  Since
then, the Alibaba Group has grown to include five member
companies: Alibaba.com, the most-visited B2B marketplace on
the Internet in terms of user traffic; Taobao, Asia's
largest consumer e-commerce website; Alipay, China's
leading online payment service; Yahoo! China, a leading
search engine and portal, acquired from Yahoo! Inc. in
October 2005; and Alisoft, a leading provider of easy to
use, web-based business software services for SMEs in
China.

    For further information, please contact:

    Hill & Knowlton Asia Ltd
     Shari Lai
     Tel:    [phone]
     Mobile: [phone]
     Email:  [e-mail]

     Ellen Chan
     Tel:    [phone]
     Mobile: [phone]
     Email:  [e-mail]