On May 4, Alibaba Group announced its fourth quarter (January to March 2018) and full-year results for fiscal year 2018 (April 2017 to March 2018).

In fiscal year 2018, Alibaba Group's revenue reached 250.266 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 58%; the core e-commerce business revenue reached 214.02 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 60%, both of which set the highest annual growth rate since its IPO.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018 (January to April 2018), the annual active consumers of China's retail platform reached 552 million, an increase of 37 million from the end of the previous quarter, also setting the highest value since its IPO.

Looking at Alibaba's investment layout in fiscal year 2018, business transformation driven by new retail and continued large-scale technology investment occupy the most important position, aiming to create a new foundation for long-term high growth in the future.

In the 2018 fiscal year, Alibaba's new retail strategy was fully implemented. While promoting new retail to become the most important wave of innovation and upgrading in China's commercial field in 2018, it also increased investment and transformation in offline business. Alibaba strategically invested in Sun Art Retail and became the largest shareholder. Sun Art Retail owns two retail brands, RT-Mart and Auchan, and is the largest offline retail enterprise in China. Alibaba also increased its investment in the well-known department store Intime, giving firm support to Intime's new retail transformation. As of the end of the last fiscal year, Alibaba's Hema Fresh had opened 37 stores across the country, covering 9 major cities across the country. By the end of April, the number of Hema stores had increased to 46, covering 13 cities across the country.

In the past fiscal year 2018, Alibaba increased its investment in Cainiao Network by RMB 5.3 billion, holding 51% of Cainiao's equity. Alibaba also announced that it would continue to invest RMB 100 billion in the next five years to accelerate the construction of logistics networks to improve consumer experience and reduce social logistics costs. The linkage between retail investment and logistics investment shows Alibaba's careful thinking and clear layout for future business.

According to the financial report, Alibaba Cloud's revenue increased by 101% year-on-year in fiscal year 2018. Alibaba announced the establishment of the "Damo Academy" this year, which will invest 100 billion yuan in three years to establish scientific research institutions in multiple locations around the world, focusing on the research of basic science, disruptive technology and applied technology.

Globalization is also a major business highlight of Alibaba.

In fiscal year 2018, Alibaba's overseas retail business revenue increased by 94% year-on-year, thanks to the strong growth of Southeast Asian e-commerce platform Lazada and global retail market platform AliExpress. Alibaba has recently pledged to increase investment in Lazada by US$2 billion to accelerate Lazada's growth.