Alibaba.com expands strategic partnership with TÜV Rheinland

27 February 2023: Alibaba.com, one of the world’s leading business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce marketplaces, is pleased to announce that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with TÜV Rheinland, a leading global independent test provider, to drive sustainable e-commerce growth for SMEs across Europe.

Building on its decade-long partnership in Asia, the agreement will see Alibaba.com and TÜV Rheinland’s partnership initially focus on Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland, with a view to including suppliers from other European countries in the near future. In these markets, both parties will work to promote B2B e-commerce, facilitate digitisation and mitigate the complexities and challenges of international sourcing.

As its strategic partner, TÜV Rheinland will continue to roll out its Verified Supplier project for Alibaba.com – a cornerstone of the partnership since 2012. As part of this, TÜV Rheinland will carry out an impartial and authoritative evaluation of suppliers, factories and merchants selling on the platform, including, but not limited to, the company's basic information, R&D capabilities, sales and production services, quality management, after-sales service and supply chain management capabilities. The results will be clearly displayed on Alibaba.com, ensuring that buyers and sellers can make efficient and well-informed decisions about the suppliers they choose to purchase from and the products they provide.

Through its collaboration in Europe, Alibaba.com and TÜV Rheinland will also help foster a healthy and sustainable e-commerce environment where more SMEs - a driving force of many economies on the continent - feel confident about completing international purchases online. Furthermore, as more businesses turn to cross-border B2B e-commerce, the collaboration will also aid the development of Alibaba.com’s platform for customers in Europe through enhancements of the user experience.

Jijay Shen, General Manager, Europe, Alibaba.com, said: “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with TÜV Rheinland to focus on creating a better experience for buyers and sellers across Europe. As businesses battle a variety of macroeconomic challenges – from product availability and shipping delays to inflationary pressures – this collaboration will ensure that SMEs in Europe can make business-critical decisions more efficiently than ever before. We look forward to continuing to promote the benefits of cross-border B2B e-commerce to European SMEs, true to our commitment to making it easy to do business anywhere.”

Andreas Hoefer, Executive Vice President of Systems Business Stream at TÜV Rheinland worldwide, said: “We’re excited to be deepening our partnership with Alibaba.com, one of the world’s leading B2B e-commerce marketplaces. With B2B e-commerce trade now a big driver of economic growth, it’s more important than ever to create a trustworthy online trading environment. Our independent audits will help build this trust amongst wholesale B2B buyers and sellers and ultimately create a more dynamic e-commerce sector that creates long-term, sustainable growth opportunities for European SMEs.”