The port city of Fangchenggang in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region of South China has taken on a significant role in the China-ASEAN electronic commerce sector.

In July, the Fangchenggang municipal government signed an e-commerce cooperation agreement with Alibaba Group, a Chinese e-commerce company that provides consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business (B2B) sales services via web portals. Fangchenggang is one of the 10 domestic partner cities of Alibaba's Global Commodity Supply Purchasing Platform, which launched online during the 12th China-ASEAN Expo. The platform is a comprehensive service involving commodity display and transaction. As Alibaba's only B2B platform offering imported goods, it has helped companies reduce time and costs while enlarging commodity supply. At present, more than 100 companies providing about 2,000 kinds of commodities have signed contracts to make their products available on the platform.

Why did Jack Ma, the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, choose Fangchenggang? An easy answer is that the seemingly minor city in South China has been an ideal gateway for the Maritime Silk Road for centuries. It was functioning as an avenue to Southeast Asia more than 1000 years ago, and today, it is the only border and coastal port city in China. In addition to its advantageous location, it boasts far-sighted business policies, booming logistics and recent e-commerce related construction.

The cooperation between Fangchenggang and Alibaba has established Guangxi's first B2B platform focusing on imported commodities. It marks a new breakthrough for Fangchenggang's border and marine economic belt construction and will promote Fangchenggang and Guangxi's quality goods to other provinces in China and countries around the world.