Photo credit: Alibaba Group
This week, Alibaba Group’s Taobao Maker Festival – an annual celebration of entrepreneurship and creativity in China – took place in ten areas across the country. Locations included busy shopping districts in three cities, which saw more than 1 million people in foot traffic.
In other news, the group announced the three winners of this year’s Global E-commerce Challenge from Singapore, Spain and China.
People Flock to 2023 Taobao Maker Festival
On the first day of this year’s Taobao Maker Festival, the shopping districts hosting exhibitions in Hanghzou, Shenzhen and Chongqing recorded footfall of more than 1 million visitors, according to Alibaba’s e-commerce marketplace Taobao.
Many young entrepreneurs in China use the online platform to turn their passions into businesses, and the annual Taobao Maker Festival allows them to share their products with consumers in real life.
Festival attendees got up and close with emerging trends, budding technologies, and up-and-coming creators.
Discover more about the festival here
Alibaba Unveils Winners of 2023 Global E-commerce Challenge
University students in China, Spain and Singapore were crowned this week as winners of the 2023 Alibaba Global E-commerce Challenge after several local and global competitions.
The events, organized by Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group (AIDC), saw participants develop creative solutions to problems inspired by real day-to-day business scenarios.
“AIDC is committed to nurturing young talent in the international digital commerce space and we are excited to welcome some of the bright minds from the competition as interns with our company,” said Lilian Jiang, Chief People Officer at AIDC, in a statement.
Around 3,500 individuals representing 141 renowned universities from 59 countries and regions participated in the race to award three top teams prizes worth up to RMB50,000 ($7,235).
A team from Peking University took first place, while students from Spain’s ESADE Business School and the National University of Singapore earned second and third place, respectively.
China Tourism Rebounds Over Labor Day Holidays; Long-Haul Trips Lag
Travelers from China hit the road en masse over the Labor Day holidays, crowding into tourism hotspots and clogging airports.
Over five days in late April and early May, Chinese tourists made around 274 million domestic trips, according to government data, a 70.8% jump from last year’s Labor Day holidays when China was still fighting the pandemic and rolling lockdowns brought travel to a standstill, according to China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
“Chinese love to travel,” said Ada Xu, an executive at Alibaba Group’s online travel platform Fliggy.
Long-distance domestic travel bookings on Fliggy were up 500% year-on-year during the Lunar New Year holidays in January, and in late April, travel reservations on the platform for the May long weekend topped pre-pandemic levels.
Read more about travel trends here
Royal Glovemaker Dents’ CEO Says Doubled Revenue In China By Going Digital
Glovemaker Dents has enjoyed a growth spurt in sales since its debut on Alibaba’s cross-border online marketplace Tmall Global two years ago.
The British company’s sales on Tmall Global doubled from around £500,000 ($620,000) in its first year on the platform to £1 million in the second year. Dents is targeting £2 million this year.
“Bearing in mind, this was during COVID, we were really amazed,” Dents’ CEO, Deborah Moore, told Alizila.
While Dents is a small British company with its headquarters nestled in rural England, it has been making gloves for British high society for almost 250 years.
Watch the video interview here to learn more about Dents’ digital success
Alibaba and L’Oréal Take Circular Economy In China’s Beauty Industry To New Heights
In this episode of Alicast, join Alizila’s Managing Editor, Alison Tudor-Ackroyd, as she speaks with Janet Neo, L’Oréal’s Chief Sustainability Officer for North Asia & China.
With Janet’s prior experience as the Head of Corporate Sustainability & Government Affairs at Southeast Asian e-commerce platform Lazada and her current role as a Board Director of Singapore’s Temasek Foundation Ecosperity, Janet brings valuable expertise to the discussion.
“Sustainability is imperative to long-term business growth in China. The balance between the performance of financials, environment, and social—unless we get the right mix, it’s not sustainable,” she shared.
Tune in to this conversation to learn about the importance of sustainability in the beauty industry and the challenges Alibaba and L’Oréal are tackling together.
Listen to this episode now
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