China – Alibaba, the Chinese tech and e-commerce giant, has officially joined the AI race with the launch of Qwen2.5-VL, an open-source multimodal model that builds on the capabilities of its predecessor, Qwen2-VL.

In a blog post, Alibaba shared that Qwen2.5-VL shows impressive multimodal capabilities, excelling at understanding texts, charts, diagrams, and layouts in images. It can also analyse videos longer than an hour, answer related questions, and pinpoint specific segments.

Additionally, the model can also convert unstructured data from invoices, forms, or tables into organised formats like JSON, making it useful for automating tasks such as processing financial or legal documents.

Alibaba also claimed that by combining parsing and localisation features, Qwen2.5-VL can act as a visual agent, helping users perform tasks like checking the weather or booking a flight by guiding the use of different tools on computers and mobile devices.

The company further revealed that their flagship model, Qwen2.5-VL-72B-Instruct, performs competitively across a range of benchmarks, including document and diagram reading, visual question answering, college-level math, video understanding, and visual tasks.

It’s also worth noting that Alibaba and the Qwen team are developing Qwen2.5-Max, a large-scale MoE model they claim outperforms DeepSeek V3 in key areas like coding, general tasks, and human preferences. They also stated it has shown competitive results in other assessments, including tests on college-level knowledge.

“Qwen2.5-Max outperforms … almost across the board GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3, and Llama-3.1-405B,” Alibaba’s cloud unit said in an announcement on its official WeChat account, referencing OpenAI and Meta’s leading open-source AI models, Reuters reported.

Both Qwen2.5-Max and Qwen2.5-VL are now accessible via Qwen Chat, Alibaba’s conversational AI platform, where users can interact with the models, explore features, and perform tasks like searching. Additionally, developers can access the Qwen2.5-Max API through Alibaba Cloud.

The release of Alibaba’s Qwen2.5 comes after DeepSeek launched its AI assistant powered by the DeepSeek-V3 model on January 10, followed by the January 20 release of its R1 model, which has sparked significant discussions around the AI boom and the pressure for AI firms to upgrade their own model. 

South Korea – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has partnered with E-Mart Inc. to establish a joint venture, combining their South Korean e-commerce operations in a strategic move to compete more effectively in the country’s growing online retail market.

According to Bloomberg, E-Mart’s stock exchange filing confirmed earlier reports that AliExpress International and Gmarket are forming a 50-50 joint venture. The companies reportedly plan to make additional investments in the venture, which will hold full ownership of Gmarket. 

Sources familiar with the situation told Bloomberg that the new entity might be worth about $4 billion.

The joint venture aims to strengthen the companies’ position against local competitors such as Naver Corp. and Coupang Inc. Additionally, Alibaba has reportedly been focusing on expanding its international footprint to offset slower growth in its core Chinese e-commerce operations.

Alibaba’s domestic e-commerce growth remained sluggish in the September quarter, weighing on financial results despite gains in its cloud and international businesses, including Lazada and AliExpress. Facing fierce competition from PDD Holdings and ByteDance, the company has pivoted under CEO Eddie Wu to streamline core operations and prioritise high-growth areas, Bloomberg reported.

Alibaba, under Jiang Fan’s leadership, is integrating its domestic and international e-commerce operations while shedding non-core assets. Last week, the company sold its Intime department store business to Youngor Fashion for $1b, marking a $1.3b loss on its initial investment.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg also reported that E-Mart shares rose 5.5% in Seoul, boosting its market value to $1.4 billion. Alibaba’s American depositary receipts climbed 2.1% in New York, bringing this year’s gains to over 11% and valuing the company at $206 billion. 

E-Mart has been expanding its e-commerce presence through organic growth and acquisitions, including a 2021 deal to acquire a controlling stake in eBay’s South Korean marketplace for $3 billion.

Singapore – LVMH Group, the global creator of high-quality products, and Alibaba Group, China’s e-commerce and technology firm, have announced an expanded partnership to push the frontiers of luxury experiences in China. This collaboration will take advantage of Alibaba’s cloud technologies and AI-powered advancements in retail and online via Tmall. 

The strengthened partnership is a testament to both businesses’ goal of leading retail innovation and providing outstanding, tech-driven luxury experiences. Through this partnership, LVMH will be able to improve its data, omnichannel, and technological footprint in China. 

LVMH has started incorporating Alibaba Cloud’s generative AI capabilities, such as Model Studio (Bailian), an extensive AI model-building platform, and Qwen, Alibaba’s proprietary large language model, as part of its innovation quest. The luxury Maison’s dedication to remaining innovative is highlighted by the innovative apps and services that have been made possible by this integration. LVMH wants to drive innovation-driven growth in its global retail businesses and enhance its premium offers for consumers worldwide by utilising technologies. 

This partnership extension for an additional five years demonstrates a shared commitment to explore new markets, products, and technical frontiers among the more than thirty Maisons and Divisions located within mainland China and Southeast Asia, including Sephora APAC and DFS. In the future, LVMH will have access to a wider range of technology and tested goods from Alibaba Cloud. In order to better serve the Chinese market, this will improve consumer insights, expedite supply chain management procedures, and further optimise corporate operations.

The announcement of the partnership’s global expansion comes after Tmall was first included in Tiffany’s and Chaumet’s premium retail ventures. Up to now, LVMH has unveiled about thirty esteemed Maisons that are presently collaborating with Tmall Luxury Pavilion to make use of Alibaba’s digital capabilities for captivating experiences, including virtual try-ons, 3D product displays, and live streaming. 

Both companies have also increased their cooperation on a number of omni-retail projects, such as membership programs, product launches, digital replicas of famous luxury locations, and one-on-one consultations. Millions of Chinese consumers will now have access to the LVMH luxury experience. 

The strategic partnership between the two companies began in 2019. Since then, LVMH has used Alibaba Cloud’s data management tool, Dataphin, to power “LVMH ATOM” China, a platform built by LVMH to provide individualised services to its growing Chinese consumer base. Furthermore, LVMH has used Alibaba Cloud’s machine learning platform, PAI, to create tailored services that respond to the diverse tastes of Chinese consumers across all of its brands. 

Speaking about the partnership, Stephane Bianchi, group managing director of LVMH, said, “Alibaba is already a key and valuable partner of our Maisons and the Group. The reinforcement of our partnership with Alibaba aims at helping us accelerate omni-channel business growth and enhancing premium luxury experiences driven by the transformative capabilities of cloud and AI technologies, along with its world-leading expertise in e-commerce operations. Our synergetic and forward-looking collaboration will deliver unparalleled experiences to our global customers throughout their premium shopping journey.”

Meanwhile, Eddie Wu, chief executive officer of Alibaba Group, expressed, “Alibaba is pleased to enable a transformation of the high-end consumption experience with retail leaders like LVMH through our world-class technologies in cloud computing and AI. This comprehensive partnership has elevated the retail experience for LVMH’s customers worldwide, including China-based consumers on Tmall. We look forward to continuing to build on the strong partnership and innovation journey with LVMH.”

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – The Trade Promotion Agency (TPA) in Vietnam and e-commerce platform Alibaba.com have jointly organised a conference on 18 March to promote exports via the e-commerce platform, as well as the inauguration of the Vietnam Pavillion on Alibaba.com.

The ‘Vietnam Pavilion’ will support Vietnamese businesses in building images and promoting product brands; supporting business connection activities, increasing understanding of Vietnamese products and businesses for international customers.

Through the partnership, the two enterprises will implement business support programs for more than 2500 medium and large enterprises small, helping them to equip them with the right tools and mindset to overcome the post-COVID-19 era. In addition, it further promotes the success of Vietnamese businesses on Alibaba.com, by recruiting e-commerce experts to advise businesses throughout the participation process.

Vu Ba Phu, director at the Trade Promotion Department said that Alibaba.com continues its commitment to the Vietnamese market with unique services to help businesses accelerate and will also launch new membership products for Vietnamese businesses, helping them to better opportunity to introduce products to global shoppers.

Meanwhile, Alibaba.com Deputy General Director Andrew Zheng commented that they strongly believe that Alibaba.com will continue to help small and medium enterprises in Vietnam overcome difficulties for this year.

Singapore – In the lead-up to the Alibaba 11:11 Global Shopping Festival this coming 11 November, the e-commerce giant has partnered with global creative commerce company VMLY&R Commerce and strategic consultancy WPP BAV, to launch an online learning series for brands, retailers, and marketers, in understanding the global retail space.

The event, which will stream online in WPP BAV Alibaba Command Center Studios on 8 to 11 November 2021 from 7 am to 1 pm SGT, will be hosted by various experts from APAC’s biggest brands and marketplaces, including Dhiren Amin, the chief marketing officer of Kraft Heinz APAC, Chris Tung, the chief marketing officer of Alibaba, and Maggie Zhou, the managing director of Alibaba Group ANZ, as well as James Chang, the chief business officer of Lazada.

The attendees of the event can participate in a no holds barred Q&A and will have the opportunity to ask questions on topics covered during the day’s sessions to a group of experts, namely Arvind Singh, Aleph-Labs’s founder and CEO, Tim Devine, AKQA’s executive innovation director, and Katie Rigg-Smith, Mindshare’s CEO for ANZ. This will be hosted by Rose Herceg, WPP’s chief of strategy for ANZ.

Some of the topics in the program are ‘The state of global retail and the opportunities and challenges for the next twenty-four months’, which will be on 8 November from 11:45 am to 12:15 pm SGT, ‘5 Big 11:11 Commerce Trends You Need to Know Now’, which will stream on 9 November from 12:15 am to 12:40 am SGT, and ‘The online/offline debate’, which will happen on 10 November from 11:30 am to 12:00 pm SGT, as well as ‘Digital commerce’, which will be live on 11 November from 11:00 am to 11:30 am SGT.

Hari Ramanathan, VMLY&R’s chief strategy and transformation officer for Asia, who will be in conversation with Amin, shared that while conventional retail festivals such as Chinese New Year or Christmas sales are tied to culture and emotion, 11.11 is markedly more transactional. 

“Sales volumes can be immense, and my conversation with Dhiren will highlight some unique insights into why brands should participate, what their focus should be and how to maximize profitability during the day,” said Ramanathan.

Meanwhile, Lazada’s CBO Chang, speaking of his session, noted that e-commerce in SEA has come a long way from its nascent roots just less than 10 years ago. 

“When Lazada started in 2012, the e-commerce landscape was one where shoppers would go to a site, browse and make a call to place an order, before arranging to meet somewhere to hand over cash and collect the purchase,” said Chang.

Singapore – Keepital, the one-stop provider of design, IT, and marketing & advertising services for all industries, has partnered with Alibaba as a global service partner to enhance Keepital’s support for local businesses beyond Singapore. Keepital said its aim is to connect businesses and suppliers in Singapore to the rest of the world.

Alibaba.com is the flagship e-commerce of the Alibaba Group. It owns one of the biggest global marketplaces in the world with its vision ‘Global Buy, Global Sell’, empowering goods to travel globally and for merchants to trade freely. Keepital now as an authorized channel partner will share in the goal of helping small businesses sell their goods around the world. Keepital is one of the only two authorized channel partners of the e-commerce in Singapore, together with e-commerce consultant, Innovative Hub. 

Keepital believes that the partnership will support the next stage for businesses as digitalization becomes a crucial strategy in times of the pandemic. Traditional methods will no longer be enough to sustain and grow the business, most especially for cross-border enterprises. 

Online platforms such as Alibaba.com have become the leading way to easily achieve global reach as well as local and regional. Alibaba.com earlier launched in June an initiative to bring more B2B SMEs in Singapore on board, which is its first such initiative in the Asia-Pacific region outside Greater China.

Aside from Singapore, Keepital also operates in Malaysia and Thailand.

Philippines – The pandemic flipped everything on 360 degrees, and to look at the current rankings of the top companies in the business sector is to view it from a whole new perspective. Market research firm Euromonitor International has recently released its list of the top companies in the retail industry in Asia for 2020, and in the Philippines, a majority of those that were leading the in the year 2019 are still the ones that reigned in 2020.

Out of the 10 in the list, the top five all registered steady growth in sales in 2020, retaining their standings from the past year. SM Retail, which holds a nationwide portfolio of department stores, supermarkets, and specialty stores, still came out as the leading firm in the sector. It was followed by pharmaceutical company Mercury Drug, with grocery retailer Puregold Price Club coming out on the third spot. Meanwhile, another giant in retail, Robinsons Retail Holdings, registered neither a drop nor an improvement in sales as well, landing the top fourth spot, while specialty store group Seven & I Holdings rounded the top five. 

Top retailers in the Philippines

Three of the top firms, which are also all international companies – beauty and wellness AS Watson Group, China-based Alibaba Group, and Shopee’s parent company Sea – all recorded improvements in sales landing the 6th, 8th, and 9th spots respectively.

Meanwhile, local grocery retailer Metro Retail Stores Group was shown to drop sales in 2020, with international home retail Wilcon Depot also demonstrating the same movement in sales.

SM Retail, which registered $5.4b in sales in 2020 came out as the 9th leading retailer in the Southeast Asia region. For the region, Tokopedia took the crown with $11.7b in total sales for the year. 

Meanwhile, for the whole of Asia, it was China’s Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com that were named as top firms. 

The pandemic remains to be the biggest determinant of the rankings, where the lockdown in the Philippines had become one of the longest globally, which started in March of 2020, and is still presently in reinforcement. According to Euromonitor, this affected the way people chose to fulfill their essentials, where mixed retailers were the worst hit, with consumers opting for specialist retailers, presenting a convenient way to obtain what they needed in stock. 

With people cooped up at home, the current situation panned out greatly for e-commerce, and this showed with Shopee’s parent firm Sea registering an increase in sales. According to the report, the category had already been growing at a double-digit pace pre-lockdown but this was accelerated in 2020 with people maximizing the ease of online retail. 

An interesting growing trend in 2020 in the Philippines is community stores, or stores that are situated in nearby communities and neighborhoods. These existed prior to COVID-19, and the increase in popularity can be attributed to the presence of Alfamart, a minimart that is a hybrid between a supermarket and a convenience store. 

Alfamart is a chain of convenience stores from Indonesia, with over 10,000 stores across Indonesia and the Philippines. Euromonitor said the concept increased in relevance in 2020 as consumers looked for the most convenient ways to complete their shopping trips, with the trend expected to continue further.

Singapore – Brightcove, a global software company catered to providing video for business, has announced a new partnership with e-commerce giant Alibaba to enable video content delivery to businesses in China, now made possible through the Brightcove Cloud Delivery.

Powered by Alibaba Cloud, said solution will be the first video provider to enable on-demand video streaming into the nation. The launch caters to the long-time problem businesses in China have dealt with in regards to video content streaming. With the nation’s strict blockade from outside media, some companies have suffered video loading or analytics failures; others have been blacklisted for lack of an in-country domain and license. 

Furthermore, Brightcove China Delivery via Alibaba Cloud enables customers to execute a single video distribution strategy worldwide. As they do for other countries, Brightcove content owners can use a simple checkbox interface to start distributing video in China and analyze its performance.

“We’re pleased to finally enable customers to stream video within China. No longer is there a separate, complex, and disappointing process for attempting video-driven business in China. We are opening the country for business for our customers securely and reliably,” said Namita Dhallan, chief product officer at Brightcove.

Brightcove’s expansion into the Chinese market, as market research by eMarketer shows that the country is projected to have an e-commerce ‘boom’, valued at US$2.8t, which at the same time entails corporate communications divisions to continue to engage employees with more video.

“Our solution allows you to easily create a single video strategy and workflow that works around the world, including China. And it’s all backed by the reliability, scalability, and security of the Brightcove platform to bring you the extraordinary growth opportunities the Chinese market offers,” the company said in a press statement.

Hangzhou, China – This year’s 11:11 Global Shopping Festival by commerce giant Alibaba has reeled in USD 74.1B in gross merchandise value (GMV), marking a 26% increase in comparison to last year’s event.

The shopping festival, lasting through eleven (11) days from November 1 to 11 across Alibaba and its affiliates like AliExpress and Lazada, has seen 470 brand participations. These brands, in total, amassed USD 15.1M in GMV.

Other notable statistics include:

  • 250,000 brands in total participated in 11.11 this year, of which 31,000 are overseas brands.
  • 2,600 overseas brands participated in 11.11 for the first time.
  • AI customer chatbot handled over 2.1 billion queries during the 11-day period

The United States was the top country selling to China in terms of GMV value. Other key nations include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and the UK.


“Over the past 12 years, innovation has been at the heart of 11.11 and along the way it became a global consumer festival. 11.11 is defined by our consumers, merchants and our partners across the ecosystem, and also a beneficiary of all the support from society. “We will continue to focus on developing our digital infrastructure in the service of empowering merchants of all sizes to find a path to success in the digital economy,” said Jiang Fan, President of Taobao and Tmall.

Shanghai, China – Customer-centric innovations and features—this has been Alibaba’s focal point this year as they recently announced their plans for the annual 11.11 Global Shopping Festival.

As ‘11.11’ continues to grow by the year, Alibaba focused on launching new strategies in the midst of changing consumer behaviors. Strategies include promotion of Alipay’s digital lifestyle platform, ‘doubling’ of shopping windows that will aid in featuring more brands and merchants, consumer reach and promotions, and utilization of livestreaming technology to drive more engagement from customers, especially from Chinese consumers, which has been noted to create the largest international presence to date.

Alibaba’s Alipay digital lifestyle platform aims at connecting almost two million local service providers in China, including micro-merchants such as street stalls and small-scale grocery stores. On the other hand, the company recently launched its Taobao Deals’ “RMB1 Sales” campaign, which aims at encouraging consumers to purchase goods at huge discounts and free shipping. Lastly, in regards to the livestreaming strategies, Alibaba aims to launch a shopping festival concept in Southeast Asia-namely in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam markets.

Jiang Fan, president of Taobao and Tmall, expressed his hopes for the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, stating that through these innovations, the company hopes to adapt to the changes this year has brought to the consumer market.

“The pandemic has fundamentally changed consumer shopping preferences and accelerated digital transformation of many businesses. Through our expansion from ‘single’ to ‘double,’ 11.11 will be offering more opportunities for merchants both online and offline to engage with consumers as well as provide a better consumer experience overall,” Fan stated.