Jack Ma at the Global Smart Logistics Summit 2018

Cainiao’s 2018 Global Smart Logistics Summit was held 31 May 2018 in Hangzhou.

Alibaba Group will invest over 100 billion yuan to build the technical backbone for a smart logistics network aimed at improving delivery reach and efficiency, as well as sharply driving down logistics costs, said Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group at the 2018 Global Smart Logistics Summit.

The network mainly aims to push 24-hour delivery across China and push logistics costs down to less than 5% of China’s gross domestic product from around 15% at present, and thereby increasing profit margins for the manufacturing industry and logistics sector. It also aims to push 72-hour delivery to the rest of the world.

Over the past five years since its establishment, Cainiao Network, Alibaba’s logistics affiliate, has witnessed an increasingly intelligent logistics industry as a result of the joint efforts of Cainiao and its partners. Through technology innovation and open collaboration, Cainiao has currently reduced cross-border shipping time from an average of 70 days to less than 10 days for some countries.

The number of B2C parcels that go through customs clearance is now one million every day. Within China, Cainiao’s same-day and next-day delivery now covers 1,500 counties and districts.

“This network is not only national, but global. This is what we will work closely with our partners to achieve and bring benefits to all,” said Ma. “As the industry will increasingly become tech-driven, Cainiao aims to be the ‘brain’ of the logistics industry. Since the first day of its birth, Cainiao’s mission is not to deliver goods, but to help delivery firms to deliver goods by building a network that links all logistics elements and connects every deliver person, every warehouse, every hub, every city, and every house.”