The commerce bureau of Yiwu and China's e-commerce giant Alibaba recently made a strategic cooperation agreement, aiming to make Yiwu a leader in the new era of foreign trade, local media reported on June 28.

A trade show featuring small commodities will go online in August. The bureau will invest 5 million yuan ($704,800) into the first phase to subsidize 80% of costs for participants.

Yiwu has been dubbed the "world's supermarket" and has long been a bridgehead for China's cross-border trade. It is home to over 2 million micro, small, and medium-sized firms, and sells commodities to nearly 200 countries and regions every year.

However, as trade expands, cooperation with Alibaba will be important for Yiwu's transformation and development, according to Yang Zhonghong, director of the municipal commerce bureau.

According to the agreement, Yiwu and Alibaba will promote a comprehensive and systematic digital upgrade of government affairs, global sales, and cross-border supply chains, bringing new growth to the digital industry in the city.

As the world's largest B2B cross-border e-commerce platform, Alibaba is expected to bring in close to 5 million active international wholesalers to Yiwu within a year.

This is not Yiwu's first partnership with Alibaba. Over the past year, Yiwu's online transaction volume on Alibaba.com increased by 82% year on year, attracting nearly 3 million active buyers. In 2020, the number of sellers in the Yiwu Industrial belt will double from the same period last year.

By innovating export modes, broadening export channels, centralizing domestic cross-border e-commerce goods to Yiwu for export, and training talents for enterprises, Yiwu will become a leader in the new era of foreign trade.