Alibaba to expand operations to Australia

SYDNEY - Chinese internet company Alibaba has announced it would expand its operations to Australia.

New South Wales (NSW) state chief executive of the Australia-China Business Council James Hudson confirmed to Xinhua he would begin at Alibaba's Australian headquarters next month.

"We see a lot of potential in the Australian market as Alibaba continues its globalization efforts," an Alibaba spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.

"We aim to have dedicated country operations to work closely with Australian merchants and partners and it is our plan to establish an office in Australia in late 2016 to better help local brands and merchants to access to the Chinese consumer market."

Australia ranked as the fifth top-selling country into China during its Global Shopping Festival last year, the company said.

"Australian brands and retailers like Woolworths, Chemist Warehouse, Bellamy's Organic, Jessica's Suitcase, Blackmores, Swisse and many others have opened a flagship online store on Tmall Global (owned by Alibaba) to sell to Chinese consumers,"they added.

Alibaba surpassed $476 billion in gross merchandise volume in March 2016.