Argentina, Alibaba team up to promote agriculture products to China

Global Business

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group is partnering with the government of Argentina to bring the South American country’s foods and wine to China.

A new memorandum of understanding between the two parties designates Alibaba’s platforms as official channels for the sale of Argentina’s top agricultural products into China

CGTN’s Joel Richards reports.

In Argentina’s wine region of Mendoza, producers hope that increasing exports can offset poor harvests and declining local sales. One of the markets they hope to target is China.

“It is a market that is growing every year,” Agustin Marolla of Titarelli Wines said. “We hope that by 2020 they will drink three times more wine than now, so it will expand and grow every year”

After Jack Ma visited Buenos Aires in early May, a new agreement with China is designed to boost sales of Argentine wine. The founder of e-commerce platform Alibaba signed an agreement in which Chinese businesses and consumers can buy Argentina wine and other products online.

Overseeing this agreement is the agency Invest Argentina. Director Juan Pablo Tripodi says that while Argentina exports around one billion dollars’ worth of wine yearly, only 20 million dollars are to China.

“The idea is  not only connect wineries in Argentina with consumers or merchants in China,’ says Tripodi, ‘but also we signed an agreement to promote wine of Argentina through Alibaba platform.’

Since signing this agreement , the International food market SIAL China in Shanghai held a series of wine tastings to promote the new partnership.

The event coincided with Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri’s visit to China when major infrastructure and energy deals between these two countries were ratified. 

The Argentina-Alibaba deal is not only limited to wine exports.  Argentina’s agricultural export products like meat, poultry, fish and seafood are also included in the agreement.  

Both Alibaba and Argentina hope  to implement the new system in time for China’s wine day in September, and singles day in November. 


Marc Curtis talks about rising consumption of wine in China

CGTN’s Rachelle Akuffo spoke to Marc Curtis, CEO of China Wine Tours, about the rising consumption of wine in China