How Alibaba supports Italian SMEs' exports
In 2024, Italian companies sold 5.2 billion worth of products to China
by E.N.
A carrier to bring Made in Italy to China and the Far East markets.
Alibaba, the marketplace founded by Jack Ma, takes stock of its activities to support Italian companies in 2024, the second edition of the SDA Bocconi Report on the contribution of the group's digital marketplaces to the European economy.
Between 2022 and 2024, the activity enabled by Alibaba in the six main EU economies generated 38.6 billion GDP, supporting 143 thousand jobs in 2024 alone, of which over 43 thousand in Italy between direct, indirect and induced. In this framework, Italy contributed 10.4 billion GDP in the three-year period, while in 2024 Italian companies sold 5.2 billion worth of products to China on Taobao and Tmall.
Fashion, clothing and leather goods lead sales, accounting for 67% of the total, followed by beauty and chemicals (10%). On the tourism front, the Fliggy platform, also owned by the giant, has brought a 61% increase in Chinese visitors to Italy, while growing opportunities also come from Lazada, acquired in 2016 by the Chinese multinational and active in South-East Asia, an area of 600 million inhabitants.
"Digital marketplaces are a real growth engine for European exports," says Rodrigo Cipriani Foresio, General manager Alibaba South Europe, who emphasises the presence - 400 Italian companies of about 1,500 Italian brands active" on the group's platforms. Companies that have the freedom to decide their own commercial policies and that can use the services of Alibaba-certified partners that support them in their internationalisation path.
