Chinese retail giant Alibaba signs e-commerce deal with Mexico

Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 18, 2017.Reuters/Ruben Sprich

The government of Mexico has inked a deal with Chinese retail giant Alibaba to help Mexican business owners reach a larger audience.

Business Wire reported that a Memorandum of Understanding between Mexico and Alibaba was signed to promote Mexican products and assist companies who want to enter the Chinese market through e-commerce.

Alibaba Group President Mike Evans and Undersecretary of Industry and Commerce of Mexico's Ministry of Economy Jose Rogelio Garza were the signatories of the Memorandum of Agreement.

Mexico's president, Enrique Pena Nieto, and Alibaba Group's executive chairman, Jack Ma, served as witnesses of the signing.

Under the agreement, a tailored program will be provided to Mexican business owners and they will benefit from the company's B2B trading platform, Alibaba.com.

Alibaba will also share their logistics and payment platforms to foster the cross-border e-commerce capabilities of Mexican SMEs, which, in turn, would also attract Chinese tourists to Mexico.

Ma said they are happy to help Mexico with the memorandum and said he hopes it will energize economic development for both China and Mexico.

"Alibaba is committed to inspiring, motivating and enabling SMEs from around the world to grow and thrive through e-commerce and the use of technology," he said.

President Pena Nieto meanwhile praised Alibaba's reach that will surely help them gain more knowledge in the e-commerce and cross-border trade industry.

"Alibaba is one of the world's largest technology companies with a sophisticated e-commerce ecosystem and a remarkable reach of more than 500 million active annual consumers globally," Pena Nieto said.

Alibaba has been a major player in the retail industry since it was founded in 1999. In April of last year, it surpassed American giant Walmart to become the world's largest retailer.

In 2015, its online sales and profits surpassed US retailers combined, including giants like Walmart, Amazon and eBay.

Its founder and executive founder, Jack Ma, is ranked second in Fortune's "World's 50 Greatest Leaders" behind Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein.