July 25, 2007 -- China's largest e-commerce company, the Ali Baba Group, announced on July 18 that it will open a new client services center in Chongqing, as part of its plan to expand its marketing to China's inland regions.

Eventually, there will be ten locations throught China, Ali Baba spokesman Wei Han told Emerging China.

"We have already set up a client development and service center in Chengdu, in the Sichuan province, earlier this year," he said. "Our business is mostly based in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hangzhou, but we always pay attention to the business development in hinterland of China."

Currently, just over 8 percent of Ali Baba's customers are in Chongqing, he added.

"The car and motorcycle component industry is well developed in Chongqing," he said. "It benefits B2B very much."

Having an office in Chongqing helps Ali Baba get close to its customers, he added.

"We have to service customers face to face," he said. "Ali Baba wants to offer more and deeper services. We offer not only an e-commerce platform but also a service platform."

Ali Baba can also serve as a bridge between Chongqing businesses and foreign purchasers.

"An important reason why we set up a branch in Chongqing is the significant export volume here," said Han. "Last year, the total export volume was 3 billion yuan [US$ 400 million]. It is a big cake that we definitely wanted a piece of. Ali Baba plans to help more enterprises find overseas markets."

One of these enterprises is Chongqing's Sishuang Household and Sanitary Paper Co.

"The traditional way of marketing to domestic clients does not work for foreign trade," said Weian Cheng, manager of Sishuang's foreign trade department. "We of course can attend fairs to obtain foreign purchase orders, but it means very expensive costs and some risks for us, particularly in the beginning."

Entering the international market requires a good information and trading platform, he told Emerging China.

"Ali Baba can fulfill all our requirements," he said. "And I believe that Ali Baba will offer us more services after launching the Chongqing branch."

Ali Baba's Han said that the company is currently recruiting all local employees with ability to help local market development. Ali Baba will offer site visits and consulting to local clients, he said.