Chinese diaspora can help e-commerce giant take on Amazon

Using a combination of word-of-mouth and advertising, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is tapping the millions of Chinese outside its homeland from Singapore to San Francisco to accelerate global expansion.

The e-commerce company, which started its meetings with potential investors for its initial public offering this week, is attracting people of Chinese heritage drawn by hard-to-find items on its Taobao Marketplace like pineapple cakes and motorbike brake pads, as well as bargain-basement prices.

"I buy everything on the platform because it's so cheap," said Sam Ng, a 33-year-old Web designer in San Francisco, who shops for car gadgets and Korean fashion clothes on the website and learned about Taobao from friends.