From a Boeing 737 to a paternity test and even a micro loan service, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is expanding the scope of its cross-platform offering as it moves to take on the state-dominated banking sector. This push into banking follows rapid year-on-year growth, both for the company and for China's e-commerce industry as a whole.
China's e-commerce industry has seen annual growth of more than 70% since 2009, with the country projected to overtake the US in 2013 as the world’s largest digital retail market. On ‘singles day’ – a day of digital promotions in China held on November 11 and created to rival St Valentine’s day – Alibaba alone recorded sales of Rmb35bn ($5.7bn), more than three times the total amount recorded on Cyber Monday 2013, the comparable US digital shopping day.
