阿里巴巴正在通過英語門戶實現其全球抱負

©iStock/RyanKing999

Alibaba is fulfilling its global ambitions with an English-language portal (阿里巴巴正在通過英語門戶實現其全球抱負) on Tmall, one of the single largest online retailers in China’s $1 trillion e-commerce arena.

The e-commerce giant began offering an English-language portal on Tmall for the first tim to entice more merchants from around the world to sell to Chinese consumers. 

Alibaba is seeking new growth engines to offset a cooling economy at home as the trade war rages on, while fending off increasingly aggressive competitors locally and globally.

Read more about how Alibaba aims to double global brands with its new English site.

Today in Global Small Business: The Future of the Norwegian Startup Ecosystem

©iStock/MartinPBGV

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• McDonald's menu to feature worldwide favorites.
• Quote of the week:  “I find the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” – Thomas Jefferson
• Chinese brands quicken pace to go global.
• Japanese drugmaker Takeda is strengthening its roots in the United States and enriching its global research heft, by unveiling a 165,000-square-foot facility in San Diego, California, in addition to its existing R&D center in Cambridge, Massachusetts and plant in Shonan, Japan.
• The future of the Norwegian startup ecosystem.
• When international expansion can go wrong.

Understand the Demands of Customers in Global Markets

iStock/Thinkstock

Building strong emotional bonds between consumers and Chinese brands remains a work in progress.  Take Haier (Haier America), for example, which ramped up efforts to go global in 1999.

It sold niche products such as small refrigerators to college students and wine cellars, and opened manufacturing plants in the U.S. and elsewhere to bring production centers closer to priority consumer markets.  Haier has distinguished itself among Chinese companies in efforts to build a global brand.

Understanding the demands of customers in global markets is just one of the many challenges Chinese companies face in light of increased global competition and operating in a fast, interconnected world.

Learn what other challenges lie ahead for Chinese companies here.

Related post:  Why China Has So Few Good Brands