Alibaba sees more online businesses resume work

HANGZHOU -- More online businesses are resuming work on China's e-commerce platform Taobao as the logistics sector continues to warm up, according to a report released by Alibaba on Monday.

Since February, more than 30,000 people have opened new stores on Taobao every day, with the number last week surging 22 percent compared with the previous one.

Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces reported the largest number of new stores.

Statistics from Cainiao, Alibaba's logistics arm, showed more than half of the couriers in China have returned to work based on the package collection rate and signing-in rate.

In Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, 400 delivery outlets have resumed operation. Previously, Cainiao and online shopping sites Taobao and Tmall had jointly set up a 1 billion yuan ($143 million) fund to subsidize supply chain and logistics.

According to Taobao, this week, 4,000 factories, 500 properties on sale, 400 auto 4S stores and 5,000 real estate consultants started selling through its live streaming services.

Over 10,000 vegetable greenhouses across the country have been turned into live-streaming rooms, with farmers hosting broadcasts in the fields.

Affected by the epidemic, many agricultural products in China became unsalable. E-commerce companies such as Alibaba and JD.com launched campaigns to facilitate sales online. From Feb 6 to Feb 12, 12,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables were sold through Alibaba's campaign.