Alibaba Helps Canadian Firms Grow in China, Trudeau Says
Xu Wei
DATE:  Dec 07 2017
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Alibaba Helps Canadian Firms Grow in China, Trudeau Says Alibaba Helps Canadian Firms Grow in China, Trudeau Says

(Yicai Global) Dec. 7 -- Alibaba helps Canadian businesses to access and grow on the Chinese market, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted about his meeting with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. [NYSE:BABA] chairman Jack Ma upon his return to Canada from China, as that Xinhuanet.com reported today.

Trudeau held a closed-door meeting with Ma during the 2017 Fortune Global Forum held yesterday in Guangzhou in China's southeastern Guangdong province.

He congratulated Ma on successfully promoting Canadian brands in China and said he hoped Alibaba might spend more time helping Canada foster, manage and support small businesses looking to come to China.

Alibaba will run a training program specially tailored to Canadian businesses, the Chinese multibillionaire pledged, adding that the company will soon open an office in Canada and assign a manager to oversee its domestic operations there.

Trudeau attended a conference Alibaba sponsored dubbed Gateway '17 Canada staged in Toronto, in Canada's eastern province of Ontario on Sept. 25. He reached a consensus there with Ma for them to help Canadian companies seize opportunities in China. The prime minister told Ma in yesterday's meeting how he witnessed with great satisfaction Canadian brands performing well in the Singles' Day (Nov. 11) online shopping festival on Tmall.com (Alibaba's e-commerce marketplace).

Sales of Canadian products grew 160 percent on the website during the Singles' Day promotions, with e.g. 6 million Canadian lobsters sold. Singles' Day, which started as an obscure counter-Valentine's Day protest, has since morphed into China's Black Friday-style online consumption carnival.

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Keywords:   Alibaba,Canada,Justin Trudeau