Tmall, the B2C marketplace owned by Alibaba Group, on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding with international wine and spirits exhibition Vinexpo as its annual trade show kicks off in Bordeaux, France.
As part of the new five-year collaboration, Tmall will become an official partner of Vinexpo, which alternates its exhibitions between Bordeaux and Hong Kong each year. The MOU also includes plans for Tmall and Vinexpo to partner on marketing initiatives for those events, including promotion on Tmall and dedicated cross-border e-commerce platform Tmall Global as well as both U.S. and Chinese social media channels.
Tmall Director for Fast Moving Consumer Goods Lei Zhao and Vinexpo CEO Guillaume Deglise signed the MOU in Bordeaux today, with Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang looking on.
“This MoU underlines China’s growing prominence in the wine world as the fastest-growing market for high-quality wine with a huge potential,” Deglise said in the release. “It also reflects Tmall’s pre-eminence at the forefront of the world’s biggest online market.”
“We look forward to collaborating with French and international wine producers and merchants to enable more and more Chinese consumers to fully enjoy the very best products the sector has to offer,” Zhao said.
Read more about wine’s surging popularity in China:
- Mondavi Wines and Dines China With Tmall
- Q&A: US Winemaker Gallo Family Vineyards
- Video: Imported Wine Is the Toast of China
- Tmall Announces 9.9 Global Wine & Spirits Festival
- China Wine Trends: Red Over White, French Above All
Speaking at the event, Zhang also announced that the second annual Tmall 9.9 Wine & Spirits Festival would take place in September. Last year, the festival brought 100,000 international wines, cognacs, whiskeys and other drinks from 50 countries to Chinese consumers through Tmall. More details on this year’s 9.9 Wine event are expected in the coming weeks.
