Alibaba gears up for global expansion

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has vowed to become a truly globalized company, serving 2 billion people within the next 10 to 20 years.

Zhang Yong, chief executive officer of the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate, said on Tuesday that New York-listed Alibaba has nearly 1 billion customers in China, but to double that to 2 billion worldwide, "globalization will be its core strategy for the next decade".

Zhang was hosting a press event in the company's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, to highlight its plans for the upcoming "Nov 11" shopping festival - China's biggest annual online sales event.