Shinsegae Group said on the 5th that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Alibaba International in Beijing to expand the cross-border e-commerce market.
The MOU was arranged on the occasion of the Korea-China Business Forum held at the Westin Beijing Financial Street. The forum was co-hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
The two groups' cooperation has been taking shape for months. After receiving approval to establish a joint venture (JV) in September last year, they formed the JV's board and held the first meeting in November. Also, in October of the same year, Alibaba International's management visited Korea and shared a cooperation vision with Gmarket executives and employees. This time, Shinsegae Group's management visited China to reaffirm the partnership.
Current results of the cooperation are becoming visible. As of December 2025, about 1.2 million products from roughly 7,000 Gmarket sellers are linked to Alibaba's Lazada platform. The transaction amount rose about fivefold from a month earlier, and the number of orders increased about fourfold.
With this agreement, the two companies will further strengthen their partnership. This year, they will expand the cross-border e-commerce market to South Asia through Alibaba's Daraz platform and to Southern Europe (Spain and Portugal) through Miravia. Going forward, they plan to broaden the market to China and beyond, ultimately expanding to more than 200 countries and regions where Alibaba operates.
The two groups set a goal of achieving more than 1 trillion won in annual cross-border e-commerce transactions within five years by linking high-quality domestic products discovered by Shinsegae with Alibaba's platforms.
James Dong, president of Alibaba International Marketplace, said, "The cooperation with Shinsegae will serve as a springboard for creating new opportunities for global expansion, and it is particularly meaningful for Korean small and midsize enterprises," adding, "By combining Alibaba's global platforms and AI-based tools with the excellent products carefully selected by Shinsegae, we expect even small sellers will be able to connect with customers around the world, including in Asia and Europe."
Park, the division head, said, "The innovative e-commerce that the two groups have been preparing together has now entered the full execution stage," and added, "Gmarket will use this collaboration to expand its business beyond the domestic market into the global market."