Alibaba's Taobao platform to support made-in-China brands

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd aims to upgrade its Taobao marketplace into a platform that supports China-born high-quality products.

Zhang Jianfeng, president in charge of Alibaba's retail business unit, said that an increasing number of Chinese are shopping overseas.

"It is clear that China's domestic buying power is still strong. But the supply in the country cannot meet people's demand. So we hope to provide consumers a wide variety of products to meet the demand and drive consumption through innovative brands," he said on Monday in an event to promote the Dec 12 online Taobao shopping festival.

According to Alibaba, the C2C online marketplace Taobao has already launched a project to help producers with design capability to transform themselves from low-end manufacturers to well respected brands.

About 4,500 professional producers have joined the project and set up online stores on Taobao. Through the online marketplace, the producers can better reach their potential customers online and build up the reputation of their brands.

Alibaba's mobile Taobao application has more than 100 million visits daily. "No matter if you are well-known brands, or up and coming designer labels, you can reach your target buyers via our online channels," Zhang said.

Alibaba also announced on Monday it will offer 100 million yuan ($15.63 million) cash incentives to encourage more shoppers to take part in the upcoming Dec 12 Taobao shopping festival.