• Trade Assurance provides a full set of protections for buyers in global trading Alibaba.com will refund the buyer for the supplier if the supplier does not meet the shipping time or the quality of products fails to meet contract requirements.
• Upgraded Trade Assurance program allows buyers to view participating suppliers' trading info including number of relevant transactions and turnover.

Sydney, July 22, 2015 – Leading global wholesale trading platform Alibaba.com, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA), today announced an upgrade of its Trade Assurance program, a free service designed to give businesses peace of mind when buying from overseas suppliers. With the upgrade, buyers who make purchases from qualified Alibaba.com suppliers will be entitled to up to a full refund of their deposits or order amounts should suppliers fail to meet the shipping times or product quality specified in contracts. Coverage has been extended to post delivery, meaning buyers are now entitled to full refunds in relevant transactions if they spot quality problems after receiving orders.

Through the upgraded service, Alibaba.com is bidding to boost trust in international trading over the Internet. "By providing maximum trade protection, Alibaba.com aims to make cross-border trading easier, therefore empowering small-and medium-sized businesses to engage in global trading," said Wu Min Zhi, Senior Vice President, Alibaba Group. "By lessening concerns and building trust in international trade, we are committed to introducing more trade opportunities to Alibaba.com members. As a result, small and medium-sized businesses will not miss out the benefits of international trading due to trust concerns over product quality or payment security."

To help make it easier for small businesses to identify reliable trading partners, Alibaba.com suppliers who qualify for the Trade Assurance program can display a Trade Assurance icon on their Alibaba.com virtual storefronts. To further improve transparency, storefronts will also display the total number of relevant transactions and total value of relevant deals completed over the previous 12 months. In addition, Alibaba.com will show how often and how quickly qualified suppliers responded to their own customers.

Trade Assurance is immediately available to all of Alibaba.com's millions of global buyers trading with Chinese suppliers, and it will be available for non-Chinese suppliers to participate in the coming months. Participation in the Trade Assurance program is voluntary for suppliers. Alibaba.com uses data analytics to assess suppliers' past performance and trading histories over six-month periods to determine who can join. Every qualified supplier is assigned a Trade Assurance Amount, which will be used to cover the buyer's loss in the event of the supplier's breach of the purchase contract.

Key Aspects of Alibaba.com's Trade Assurance program:

(1) 100% payment protection

Buyers can choose to be covered for their deposit or the total value of the order, subject to the overall Trade Assurance Amount approved for the supplier. Buyers and suppliers must agree on the type and extent of protection.

(2) 100% product quality protection

Buyers can select either pre-shipment or post-delivery protection. Alibaba.com will provide refunds for the suppliers to buyers should the product quality fail to meet the specifications agreed in the purchase contract.

(3) 100% on-time shipment protection

Alibaba.com will provide refunds for the suppliers to buyers should shipments fail to be delivered by the supplier-agreed times.

The new Trade Assurance program covers payments made by telegraphic transfer (T/T) and will be extended to other payment methods in the future.

For more information on Trade Assurance, visit http://tradeassurance.alibaba.com/.

About Alibaba.com

The first business of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA), Alibaba.com (www.alibaba.com) is the leading platform for global wholesale trade serving millions of buyers and suppliers around the world. Through Alibaba.com, small businesses can sell their products to companies in other countries. Sellers on Alibaba.com are typically manufacturers and distributors based in China and other manufacturing countries such as India, Pakistan, the United States and Thailand.

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