Alibaba Group- the largest retail commerce company in the world in terms of GMV - has recently organized a series of events introducing the Chinese online market to more than 150 companies throughout the GS1 European branches. This week GS1 Italy hosted Alibaba's roadshow "Tmall Partners European Tour", established to gather all Italian companies interested in exporting to China.

GS1 Italy is an association counting 35.000 companies commercializing consumer goods. Its main goal is to foster dialogue and collaboration among companies, associations and institutions in order to create efficiency and innovation.

Besides the Italian companies involved, the event hosted 13 Chinese companies specialized in the opening and management of flagship stores on Alibaba's platforms. These businesses are qualified to plan and carry out e-commerce operations on China, such as the design of the online shop and all aspects concerning logistics, customer care, mobile market and analytics.

During the event, more than 400 professionals had the chance to take part in one general conference, five specialized workshops, and one to one meetings to know better Chinese market and the opportunities offered by Alibaba's platforms. The latter facilitates the export of Made in Italy excellences.

This prestigious event organised in Milan also hosted representative for Sace-Simest, an institution devoted to the support of both exports and the internationalization of Italian companies, an the export pole for internationalization of the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Deposits and Loans Funds), illustrating the insurance and finance products devoted to support Italian companies willing to open a flagship store on Alibaba's market place in China.

Rodrigo Cipriani Foresio, Alibaba South Europe managing director, has commented on the initiative, stating that "we are particularly satisfied about the strategic collaboration with GS1 giving birth with the 'Tmall Partners European Tour'... it allowed us to illustrate the great potential of the Chinese market and the necessary tools for companies willing to export their products".

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