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Alibaba bares vision of expanded Taobao Marketplace platforms, more efficient logistics network

China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is set to expand its Taobao Marketplace platforms and fully backs the new Internet logistics network it set up with leading e-tailers and couriers.

Jonathan Lu, Alibaba Group’s new CEO, said at a press briefing on Tuesday that marked his first public appearance since he took over the company’s helm in May that these will allow the company to take advantage of China’s growing e-tailing and consumer markets.

"A responsible corporation should task itself with providing solutions to the challenges of tomorrow," said Lu. "Ours is to make the world more balanced and transparent through the Internet way of thinking."

Among the plans he unvieled is a 24-hour nationwide delivery service that will bring more users to Taobao platforms.

He also said an efficient courier network will even enable farmers in Chinese provinces to sell directly to the rest of the country without much need for intermediaries.

He was referring to national courier system called China Smart Logistic Network (CSN) which Alibaba formed with several leading e-tailers and couriers.

"Today Alibaba backs Cainiao; tomorrow Cainiao will fuel Alibaba’s growth," he said.

In more than a decade with Alibaba Group, Lu, 43, has led three of its major divisions: Taobao, the company’s dominant online shopping platform; Alibaba.com, a global online wholesale market; and Alipay, China’s leading third-party online payments provider.

Prior to being named CEO, he was responsible for crucial Alibaba Group development efforts in emerging Big Data businesses and also had oversight over the company’s cloud-based mobile phone OS, Alibaba Mobile Operating System.

"My focus is on keeping our customers happy, our business healthy and doing more for the future, not on the IPO," he commented on his new role as CEO and Alibaba’s widely speculated IPO. "My job is to get the company ready to go while Jack Ma decides when to press the button."