Alibaba, the "Crocodile in the Yangtze”, epitomises China’s economic transformation as the biggest retail commercial and e-commerce company in the world. Alibaba is in possession of the world’s biggest digital ecosystem having branched out into fintech, media, and cloud computing for example. 

 

Alibaba is constructing the “future infrastructure of commerce” and its New Retail concept introduced in 2016 is the seamless merging of the online and offline worlds while augmented and virtual reality are used in its ‘uni commerce,’ Uni-Technology. 

 

Alibaba is experimenting with drone delivery for China’s countryside as Alibaba attempts to create 550 million rural digital entrepreneurs.

 

Alibaba has a hybrid digital supermarket, ‘Freshippo’ or ‘Hema’, that doubles up as an overhead conveyor delivery service and has as an additional adjacent restaurant. Alibaba has its own autonomous warehouse and is testing driverless vehicles. 

 

Alibaba's logistics network Cainiao uses blockchain and envisages three-day global delivery. Alibaba has extensively invested in start-ups across Asia and is branching into Africa.

 

Find out more about Alibaba and the future of Chinese innovation in Digital Provinces Guide: Countdown to the Chinese Century, Dawn of the Digital Dragon Dynasty: Countdown to the Chinese Century, and Dawn of the Digital Dragon Dynasty: Chinese Companies e-books in Shop.