Alibaba Group has established exclusive tie-ups with more than 20 overseas popular apparel brands including Zara and Timberland, in an effort to attract major international brands to sell their products on its online platform Tmall.com.
The move marks the Internet retail giant's latest step to compete with domestic rivals such as JD.com.
According to Alibaba, it will also deepen cooperation with more than 160 multinational brands including Adidas and Gap.
"Apparel is one of the key product categories on Tmall. We have an extensive collection of brands on the platform, and it is imperative for us to deepen our collaboration with them so we can work together in more strategic ways to enable their success within our ecosystem," Jeff Zhang, president of Alibaba's China retail marketplaces, said in a statement.
Alibaba recently named Michael Evans, a former executive of Goldman Sachs Group, as president of the company to lead its global expansion.
