In South China Morning Post owner Alibaba’s recent financial year to March, Cainiao was already handling the delivery of more than 4 million cross-border parcels on a daily basis.

The five-day global delivery service was tested the past few months in South Korea, where AliExpress orders increased by more than 100 per cent, according to Cainiao.

Delivery has emerged as a tough new battleground for China’s e-commerce giants, as they jostle to win both local and overseas consumers with faster and cheaper shipping services.

Faster delivery is seen as a major advantage against next-generation Chinese e-commerce platforms – led by Temu, Shein and TikTok Shop – which emerged last year as an online retail force in large consumer markets around the world, including the United States, on the back of their highly competitive pricing strategy.

Alibaba logistics arm Cainiao launches half-day express delivery in 8 cities

One of Alibaba’s fastest-growing businesses, Cainiao was taken over by Alibaba co-founder and group chairman Joe Tsai under the restructuring plan. For the quarter ended June 30, Cainiao revenue grew 34 per cent year on year to 23.5 billion yuan (US$3.2 billion), driven by increased international and domestic fulfilment services.AliExpress, a retail platform for international buyers that was launched in 2010, is looking to expand its presence across Europe and Asia. AliExpress had been providing a nine-day delivery service for users in Spain since March this year.

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