Alibaba’s AliExpress pushes ‘10 billion yuan of subsidies’ campaign to entice more Chinese brands and merchants to sell in overseas markets

Alibaba Group Holding’s international online shopping platform, AliExpress, will provide fresh subsidies to entice more Chinese brands and merchants to sell overseas, as the e-commerce giant moves to fend off growing competition from PDD Holdings’ Temu and fast-fashion retailer Shein.

The campaign called “10 billion yuan of subsidies” – a typical mainland marketing phrase used to tout large online allotments – will be given to an initial batch of 1,000 Chinese brands and merchants, including those who have already opened a store on Alibaba’s domestic retail platform Tmall, according to an AliExpress statement on Monday. AliExpress did not provide the exact amount of subsidies.

Chinese brands and merchants who register under the campaign will also be able to sell their goods on Alibaba’s other international e-commerce channels including Lazada in Southeast Asia, Miravia in Spain, Trendyol in Turkey and Daraz in South Asia, according to AliExpress.

Those who sign up for the AliExpress programme will also receive assistance in terms of marketing to boost online consumer traffic and special delivery services via Alibaba unit Cainiao Smart Logistics Network. Alibaba also owns the South China Morning Post.

The latest AliExpress campaign shows how competition from a new generation of China-founded online retailers – Temu and Shein in particular – has raised the stakes for Alibaba’s expansion efforts overseas, as a shaky post pandemic economic recovery weakened consumer spending in the domestic market.