Alibaba, companies work on smart logistics network

Alibaba Group, parent company of China's largest consumer-to-consumer portal, Taobao, joined hands with several partners to kick off a logistics network program on Tuesday in Shenzhen of south China's Guangdong Province.@ The program, which will have a full investment of 300 billion yuan (48 billion U.S. dollars), will build up logistics facilities nationwide to enable parcels in some 2,000 Chinese cities to be delivered within 24 hours of online purchasing, according to Alibaba founder and board chairman Jack Ma.

The China Smart Logistics Network (CSN) will be run by Rookie Network Technology Co., Ltd, which was jointly established by Alibaba, Intime Department Store Group Co., Ltd., as well as the country's major delivery companies such as Shentong Express, ZTO Express and YTO Express, and other investors.

Dubbed an "idealist program" by Ma, CSN will have a first-phase investment of 100 billion yuan to set up within five to eight years a logistics network that will be able to support daily online sales of 30 billion yuan, said Shen Guojun, president and board chairman of Intime Group.

Shen serves as chief executive officer of Rookie Network, while Ma is board chairman of the newly established company.

According to Ma, there are currently about 25 million parcels delivered every day in China, and that figure is expected to rise to 200 million in 10 years.