Ma’s plans for Cainiao

Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma has said that Cainiao Network aims to “eventually ensure single-day delivery across China and 72-hour delivery to the rest of the world”.

Speaking at a Cainiao event in Hangzhou on Thursday (29 May), Ma said that, at present, Cainiao has reduced cross-border shipping times from an average of 70 days to less than 10 days for some countries. Within China, Cainiao’s single-day and second-day delivery now covers 1,500 counties and districts.

In his Hangzhou presentation (which was covered in the semi-official Alizila website), Ma also said that the group will invest billions of dollars to build the technical backbone for a smart logistics network –  one that is not only national, but global” and which will “connect every courier, connect every warehouse, every hub, every city and every house”.

Ma continued: “If we can use data to solve the problem of low transport efficiency and high logistics costs, we can create huge profit margins for the manufacturing industry and logistics sector. I think this is what Cainiao and our logistics industry should do for the country.

“This network was established by Cainiao, but it doesn’t belong to Cainiao. It belongs to all logistics companies. Logistics companies are Cainaio’s most important partners … we need to provide our partners with core technology and core products to make our logistics partners stronger.”