China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba is eyeing a bigger share of the services market in Guangdong, as it puts more focus on e-commerce, fin-tech, logistics and new retail businesses in the southern China province.

Alibaba's Southern China Operating Center in Pazhou area, Haizhu district.

Relying on its just-opened Southern China Operating Center in Guangzhou, the enterprise will develop more than 10 projects in the capital city to provide higher-level services for local small and medium-sized firms.

Thanks to a large number of SMEs, Guangzhou has an edge on manufacturing and trade. According to its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), the city will further promote artificial intelligence and digital economy, with the Panzhou area in Haizhu district to play a key role.

The center, now established in the area, mainly focuses on Alibaba’s mobile internet and smart city businesses as well as the integration of cooperation between mobile internet’s upper- and lower-streams. It will help Pazhou on its quest to be a world-class hub for the digital economy.

Put into use in early April, the center covers an area of 130,000 square kilometers and has over 6,000 employees.