Ali aims to capture half of Korean consumers within 3 years... AI to block harmful products at the source

Interview with Ray Jang, AliExpress Korea CEO
"Affordable Prices, All-in-One AliExpress Goal"
Planning to Operate Korean Logistics Center Within 3 Years... Location and Scale to Be Announced Next Year
Considering Domestic Distribution Company M&A
'Global Selling' to Support Korean Sellers' Overseas Expansion to Be Announced This Month

"The goal is to have more than half of Korean consumers on online shopping platforms experience using AliExpress within 3 to 5 years."

Ray Zhang, Head of AliExpress Korea, is answering questions from Korean reporters earlier this month at Alibaba Xixi Campus in Hangzhou, China. [Photo by AliExpress]

Ray Zhang, CEO of AliExpress Korea, recently met with reporters at Alibaba Group's headquarters, Xixi Campus, in Hangzhou, China, and explained the direction AliExpress is pursuing in Korea.

To achieve this goal, aggressive marketing based on a variety of cost-effective (price-performance) products is also planned. CEO Ray Zhang emphasized, "The goal is to become a 'Universal AliExpress,' or 'Mannung AliExpress' in Korean," adding, "We always want to provide many benefits to consumers through low prices." He explained that Ali chose the keyword 'Mannung Ali' to become a platform loved in Korea.

"Korean logistics center to start operations within 3 years... Expansion through M&A also considered"

Ray Zhang, the head of AliExpress Korea, is answering questions from the Korean press earlier this month at Alibaba Xixi Campus in Hangzhou, China.
[Photo by AliExpress]

Regarding the controversy over harmful substances such as carcinogens repeatedly detected in products sold on Ali, he revealed that in addition to internal monitoring, filtering using artificial intelligence (AI) is being conducted. Specifically, when harmful products are found, the products are immediately removed from the Ali platform, and penalties are imposed on the sellers who sold them.

Sampling tests to filter out products containing harmful substances are also underway. CEO Ray Zhang said, "If the sampling test meets Korean standards, it passes, but if it does not, the product page is deleted or the seller is penalized," emphasizing, "We will continue to cooperate more with various Korean stakeholders to detect harmful products."

He explained that regarding the establishment of a domestic logistics center, the goal is to operate within 3 years, and the construction is currently underway. Previously, Alibaba submitted an investment plan worth a total of 1.5 trillion KRW to the Korean government, including investment in a large logistics center. Specific plans such as the logistics center site, completion, and operation schedule will be announced in the first half of next year. CEO Ray Zhang said, "I cannot disclose details such as facility size as nothing is finalized yet, but we will apply the most advanced technology," adding, "The logistics center will be carried out not independently but in cooperation with Korean partners in fields such as technology and construction."

Regarding recent issues related to personal information protection, he explained that anonymization work is underway. The aim is to process personal information as anonymous data to reduce leakage risks. CEO Ray Zhang said, "We limit the requested personal information to the minimum scope and only use it with consumer consent," adding, "All personal information will be anonymized within 90 days from the transaction completion date, and anonymization of information such as names, mobile phone numbers, and addresses on delivery waybills is also being carried out."

He also hinted at the possibility of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of domestic distribution companies. However, regarding rumors about the recent issue of acquiring the corporate supermarket (SSM) Homeplus Express, he drew a line by saying, "We have never had discussions related to M&A with Homeplus."

He expressed his intention to help Korean sellers expand overseas through 'Global Selling.' This involves selling domestic sellers' products on AliExpress platforms operating overseas. CEO Ray Zhang said, "We plan to sell worldwide using AliExpress's network through both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions." Ali plans to announce specific details related to global selling within this month, and will first hold a global selling launch briefing for sellers on the 25th.

Meanwhile, born in 1988, CEO Ray Zhang joined Alibaba Group in 2016 and worked at AliExpress. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees from Fudan University, he accumulated over 10 years of experience in e-commerce operations, business management, and strategic planning. Before joining Alibaba, he served as director of the data operations team at the Chinese startup Yuntu and as a business management leader at the US electronics e-commerce company Newegg. He has been leading the Korean corporation since AliExpress entered the domestic market in October 2018.

Monitoring harmful products with AI... Cooperation on intellectual property protection

Daniel Doherty, Executive Director of Alibaba International Digital Commerce (AIDC), is answering questions from the Korean press earlier this month at Alibaba Xixi Campus in Hangzhou, China.
[Photo by Alibaba]

Prior to CEO Ray Zhang, Kai-Fu Zhang, Vice President of Alibaba International Digital Commerce (AIDC), who presented the business announcement, also emphasized Alibaba's use of AI. Currently, Alibaba's e-commerce platforms such as AliExpress, Lazada, and Alibaba.com utilize AI in areas including product detail page translation, customer consultation, and marketing.

In particular, AI is used to monitor harmful products and so-called 'counterfeit' products that infringe intellectual property rights. Vice President Kai-Fu Zhang emphasized, "We fully use AI to comply with regulations and conduct product screening," adding, "We screen text and product images, and most logos infringing intellectual property rights can be detected."

Daniel Doherty, AIDC Managing Director, explained Alibaba's efforts to protect intellectual property rights, including counterfeit prevention. Alibaba operates a rights infringement reporting system and implements measures such as cooperation with relevant agencies in various countries. When products infringing intellectual property rights are found, proactive removal is carried out. Managing Director Doherty emphasized, "75% of products removed due to rights infringement were proactively deleted," adding, "Especially in Korea, more than ten times the number of products were removed compared to the number of reports filed by intellectual property rights holders."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.