Jack Ma (马云), the founder of Alibaba Group (阿里集团), who returned to China at the end of March, will visit Brazil in the near future to promote Alibaba's international business landing better in Brazil.
As a "godfather" in China's e-commerce industry, Jack Ma has extensive international influence. During the recent visit by the President Lula da Silva to China, the Brazilian and Chinese governments proposed the implementation of a memorandum of understanding on bilateral e-commerce cooperation in their joint declaration on deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership, sharing development patterns and experiences, and jointly promoting digital innovation and development in Brazil.
As the largest economy and most populous country in Latin America, Brazil has always been a market of great concern to major e-commerce giants around the world. However, high cross-border tariffs in Brazil have deterred many e-commerce companies. Fernando Haddad, the Minister of Finance of Brazil, recently announced that the government will soon introduce relevant policies to cancel the policy of exempting cross-border platform purchases of less than 50 US dollars from taxes. E-commerce platforms including AliExpress, SHEIN, Wish, and Shopee will be affected.
Since entering Brazil in 2013, AliExpress has been deeply rooted in the local market for a long time and is one of the top-ranked e-commerce websites in Brazil. In addition to cross-border sellers from China, AliExpress Brazil also vigorously attracts local sellers to settle in by significantly reducing commissions. In November 2022, Cainiao, an Alibaba subsidiary, announced the opening of its Latin American headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil. During Brazilian President Lula's visit to China on April 12, 2023, Cainiao signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Brazil Post.
Alibaba also faces fierce competition from peers in Brazil. Shopee has done a thorough job of localization in Brazil, and local merchants' sales on its platform have exceeded 80%. Over the past three years, SheIn has risen rapidly, with sales gradually catching up with and surpassing many of its earlier peers. Amazon has a relatively complete warehousing and distribution center in Brazil, and recently Amazon Brazil has officially launched trial operations for Chinese sellers.
Alibaba's recently announced "1+6+N" organizational structure adjustment is widely regarded as Jack Ma's move to re-engage in Alibaba's daily management. The Global Digital Business Group (GDBG, 国际数字商业集团), led by Jiang Fan (蒋凡) as CEO, has continued to increase its revenue contribution to Alibaba. Against the backdrop of globalization as Alibaba's core strategy, Jack Ma is expected to invest more energy in the GDBG.
Jack Ma's international influence and connections are important advantages for Alibaba to expand internationally. Public reports show that in January 2023, Jack Ma met with Thai billionaire and Charoen Pokphand Group (正大集团) chairman Dhanin Chearavanont (谢国民) twice within a month, in Bangkok and Hong Kong, respectively. In December 2022, the world's first digital free trade zone jointly built by Alibaba's eWTP and Thailand officially began trial operation.
At this critical stage, the ESG2023 "the US Sub-Forum" will be held in Shenzhen on June 2, 2023. EqualOcean will invite the representatives of academic institutions and investment institutions, as well as company leaders, from the International Studies Institute of Fudan University, Sun Yat-sen University, Jinan University School of International Relations, Gaorong Capital, Vision Plus Capital, FreeS Fund, ZWC Partners, Source Code Capital, Niu Technologies, TikTok, SHEIN, NEIWAI, miHoYo, Tuya, MINISO, Dreame, Ecovacs, WYBOTICS, Lifen, and UniUni.EqualOcean analysts will also release the US Report 2023 at the US Sub-Forum, summarizing business opportunities and best practices for expanding into the US market in the new stage. Click the link to apply and scan the QR code below to learn more about ESG2023.
