(Yicai Global) Dec. 10 -- Cainiao Network, the logistics unit of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, plans to invest more than RUB700 million (USD9.5 million) to set up a goods delivery network in Russia.

Cainiao's strategy is to locate parcel lockers as close to customers as possible and at the same time involve small businesses and online services, especially in rural areas and smaller cities outside of Moscow, the Hangzhou-based firm said in a statement today.

Cainiao will focus on small and medium-sized businesses as well as non-chain retail stores, as these account for about half of Russia’s retail sector.

The firm launched its drop-shipping and commissioned pickup services in the country in April, which enabled sellers on AliExpress Russia, Alibaba’s local platform, to make use of the logistics capacity of Cainiao and its partners to store and send the goods ordered by customers.

Cainiao said in June that it planned to invest more than RUB1 billion (USD14.4 million) in Russia this year to develop information technology solutions and achieve localized commercialization.

The logistics firm invested RUB500 million (USD7.1 million) in a warehousing complex in Moscow Oblast in 2018, which helped to reduce the time needed to ship goods to Russia’s capital from China to between three and five days.

Editor: Tom Litting