The International Digital Business Group, whose main businesses include Southeast Asian e-commerce platform Lazada, AliExpress, which helps merchants sell goods overseas, and International Trade (ICBU), is headquartered in Hangzhou's Binjiang Park. It was also developed from the large group of 10,000 people who "crossed the river" from the west of Hangzhou in 2009.

The revenue and growth rate of the international business are quite stable, but two trends that cannot be ignored are the continued expansion of its operating losses and the fact that its importance in Alibaba's revenue is being replaced by the cloud business.

In recent years, there have been many successful cases in China's cross-border e-commerce journey. First, Shein completed its overseas expansion in a low-key manner, and then Pinduoduo's overseas version Temu soared in a high-profile manner. In comparison, Alibaba's international business has not made much of a splash.