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This week, consumers in mainland China and the wider region geared up to hunt for bargains on year-end campaigns on Alibaba Group’s marketplaces.
In mainland China, Taobao and Tmall Group is conducting a year-end value-for-money campaign. In Macao, shoppers will be treated to a festive lottery from Ant Bank as well as discounts on certain items. Meanwhile Taiwanese consumers can seize the opportunity to find fancy outfits on the cheap, among other goodies.
In other news, a lottery platform owned by Alibaba and Ant Group celebrated its inclusion as a constituent stock on a list curated by investment bank Morgan Stanley.
Recently, the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as COP28, has been dominating global headlines as policymakers met to discuss sustainability goals. On Alizila, we spotlighted green initiatives across the Alibaba Group ecosystem, from crafting sustainable honey to cutting plastic waste from instant noodles.
Year-End Sales, Lottery to Launch on Taobao’s Macao Site
Tmall Taobao World, which facilitates convenient shopping on Taobao and Tmall for Chinese consumers outside mainland China, launched its year-end sales campaign in markets including Macao.
From the evening of Dec. 9 to midnight on Dec. 12, the festival of savings will offer greater discounts, more merchants and a wider selection of products than ever before.
The discounts include a 15% discount on select items as well as cross-store discounts on Tmall and Taobao, said CK Chan, head of Hong Kong and Macao, Tmall Taobao World.
In addition, if consumers purchase over RMB49 ($6.9) in the Taobao Macao PLUS section, they will enjoy free self-pickup cross-border shipping from Cainiao logistics service.
The Macanese branch of fintech company Ant Bank is also joining in the year-end fun with a month-long lottery dispensing over MOP100,000 ($12,452) in prizes.
Glitter, Glam and Everything Fab For Taiwanese Shoppers
In Taiwan, Tmall Taobao World’s sales follow the same timetable, with a 15% discount on some items and 30% off RMB200 spent on others.
To get consumers in the festive spirit, Tmall Taobao World selected five party wear themes and recommended a variety of clothing to wow users without emptying their wallets. This includes a selection of dresses, shoes and accessories under NT$1,500 ($47.9).
Meanwhile, the platform’s PLUS channel – a showcase of certain items eligible for extra discounts and free cross-border shipping – will, as always, offer free local returns and a 24-hour dedicated customer service point to resolve any issues.
MSCI Includes AGTech In Index
AGTech Holdings said it had been included as a constituent stock in the MSCI World Micro Cap Index as of Nov. 30.
The MSCI World Micro Cap Index is compiled by Morgan Stanley Capital International to measure the performance of micro-cap stocks globally. AGTech said it believes inclusion in the index will help it attract a more diversified investor base and increase the trading liquidity of its shares.
Noodle Maker Master Kong Showcases How to Cut Plastic Waste
The Chinese instant noodles and beverage giant teamed up with Alibaba and French utility Veolia to help shrink its carbon footprint.
The pilot project involved recycling Master Kong’s waste plastic bottles into new products sold on one of Alibaba Group’s grocery platforms. Master Kong is China’s largest instant noodles maker and exclusively makes, distributes and sells PepsiCo soft drinks in the country.
Learn how the company is serving up sustainability
Sweet Success: A Luxury Startup Sees Honey Gold in China’s Wellness Market
Mānuka honey is a gift from nature, according to Jim McMillan, founder of New Zealand’s The True Honey Co., who has spent the last decade flying into the remotest wilds of New Zealand to cultivate beehives.
With a presence in the Middle East, Europe and Australia, the small but nimble company is now turning to China’s health-hungry $6 trillion consumer market.
Get a taste of this liquid gold
Alibaba Cloud Makes More LLMs Available to Support Open-Source Community
Alibaba Cloud has made two large language models and a model that understands audio freely available as it looks to build the most open cloud in the AI era.
The initiative helps businesses of all sizes to leverage LLMs to create tailored solutions. As of now, Alibaba Cloud has contributed LLMs with parameters ranging from 1.8 billion, 7 billion, 14 billion to 72 billion, as well as multimodal LLMs with audio and visual understanding.
DAMO Academy’s AI Breakthrough Makes Pancreatic Cancer Easier to Detect
Research institute DAMO Academy has developed an AI-powered tool that can screen for early signs of pancreatic cancer, one of the most fatal cancers worldwide.
The tool, dubbed PANDA by researchers, is 34.1% more sensitive than radiologists to picking up abnormalities when it comes to screening scans.
