Major deal with Alibaba will help province create an economic infrastructure tailored toward the Internet, Liu Mingtai and Dong Jidong report.

Northeast China's Jilin province is looking to the booming e-commerce market as a vital source of growth as the country shifts to a new normal economic model, said Jilin Governor Jiang Chaoliang.

In his Government Work Report at the annual session of the provincial legislature in February, Jiang said the province should fully take advantage of the Internet economy in boosting growth.

The report comes two months after the province signed a cooperation agreement with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group in Changchun, the provincial capital.

The group will help Jilin build an economic infrastructure tailored toward the Internet, such as cloud computing, big data and e-commerce facilities and services, improve its industrial competitiveness and strengthen the province's capability in sustainable development.

"The cooperation between Jilin and Alibaba Group is effective and has boosted the province's rapid development in the e-commerce industry," said Bayinchaolu, Party chief of Jilin province, at the signing ceremony of the agreement in Changchun.

The potential of the cooperation is huge thanks to Jilin's unique advantage in geographic location and rich natural resources, he said.

The agreement will help the province sell its high-quality products across the country and to more customers in the world, he said.

The province will create a sound environment and offer better services for Alibaba's expanded operations in Jilin and achieve a win-win outcome, he added.

"Alibaba would like to stimulate the innovative spirit of young people in Jilin and help the province achieve rapid development using the group's advantages in cloud computing, big data, e-commerce and other Internet technologies," said Jack Ma, Alibaba chairman.

The group will also offer e-commerce training sessions for people in Jilin and promote the development of cross-border e-commerce businesses that target consumers in Russia, Japan and South Korea.

Through its cloud computing technologies, Alibaba will work with Jilin to build a digital platform for government information services to benefit the public and enterprises, Ma said. Supported by advanced Internet technologies, Jilin can promote the development of small and medium e-commerce enterprises and upgrade its industries, according to the agreement.

Moreover, the province will also improve its infrastructure for Internet-based economic sectors, promote the development of 4G mobile networks and increase access to broadband Internet services for rural areas, Jiang said in the Government Work Report. The province will also build an industrial base for cloud computing, speed up the interactive development between the Internet industry and traditional and emerging industries such as agriculture, and provide policy and fund support for Internet companies, he said.

Chuangchun, home to more than 200 e-commerce enterprises and 30,000 online stores, produced 82 billion yuan ($13.2 billion) in revenue through e-commerce transactions in 2014, according to the city government.

The city handled 16 million e-commerce orders last year, statistics show. With FAW Group Corp, one of the largest automobile manufacturers in China, Changchun is focusing on an e-commerce platform for the sales of auto parts.

With the help of e-commerce enterprises such as Jilin Haoma, the city will utilize the platform to aid auto parts producers in neighboring regions.

Changchun has also established an e-commerce platform for rice producers in Jilin, a traditional rice growing region in China.

With its headquarters based in Changchun, the platform's brick and mortar facilities will gather rice produced around the region and then sell it online under a unified brand called Songhuajiang.

The city is also planning to launch chartered cargo flights to Moscow to boost China's e-commerce with Russia.

Chuangchun, through its Xinglong Free Trade Zone, is expanding its logistics networks to Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea to promote cross-border e-commerce operations with these regions.

Contact the writers at liumingtai@chinadaily.com.cn and dongjidong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/13/2015 page10)