S. Korean president meets with Alibaba's Ma

South Korean President Park Geun-hye shakes hands with Ma Yun, founder and chairman of Alibaba GroupHolding in Seoul, on Aug 8, 2014.[Photo/IC]

SEOUL - South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday met with Ma Yun, founder and chairman of China's leading e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding, agreeing to boost e-commerce cooperation between the two countries.

Ma told Xinhua that they have talked for about an hour, mainly on strengthening cooperation on e-commerce, films, games and medical industries. They also discussed helping Alibaba's Cainiao logistics (or China Smart Logistic Network), China's largest logistic network, enter South Korea's market.

Ma said Alibaba will launch all-around cooperation on e-commerce with South Korea. It was the fourth all-around cooperation between Alibaba and foreign government since it has signed agreements with governments of Britain, France and Italy.

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Ma said brands of the four countries will officially enter Alibaba's online platform on Nov 11 this year. Alibaba will offer them rapid registration, online promotion, platform marketing and other special services.

It was Ma's third trip to Seoul in four months. In July, he was one among the 250 business executives followed Chinese President Xi Jinping's official visit to South Korea, the biggest ever foreign business delegation to South Korea, according to the Korea Chamber of Commerce.

South Korea's Aju Business Daily also reported that Park and Ma have reached a consensus on boosting cooperation on education, product certification services and enhancing the efficiency of e-trading system and logistics.

Park hoped Alibaba could offer more convenience for South Korea's small- and medium-size enterprises to enter China's e-commerce market.

Ma said he was surprised that Park has such a wide knowledge about Alibaba, adding that he was glad to hear Park's remarks that Alibaba has made great contribution to small- and medium-size enterprises, younger generation and the future.

"President Park said she has witnessed the fast growth of South Korean online shops on Tmall platform. She also asked Alibaba to give South Korean enterprises more shortcuts," said Ma.

South Korea's Lotte department store and its largest online retailer Gmarket has started business on Tmall, he added.

"I also suggested to President Park to support the Alipay to enter South Korean market, which will definitely facilitate Chinese tourists," said Ma.

Zhang Jianfeng, vice-president of Alibaba added that Taobao.com has selected as the official website for promotion and ticket services in China for Incheon Asian games.