(Von links) Joseph Tsai, Mitbegründer und Executive Vice Chairman der Alibaba Group, Zhang Yong, CEO von Alibaba und Michael Evans, Präsident von Alibaba,
(From left) Joseph Tsai, co-founder and Executive Vice Chairman of Alibaba Group, Zhang Yong, CEO of Alibaba, and Michael Evans, President of Alibaba, attend the launch event of the 2015 Tmall 11.11 Global Shopping Festival at Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, 13 October 2015. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has vowed to become a truly globalized company, serving 2 billion people within the next 10 to 20 years. Zhang Yong, chief executive officer of the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate, said on Tuesday (13 October 2015) that New York-listed Alibaba has nearly 1 billion customers in China, but to double that to 2 billion worldwide, "globalization will be its core strategy for the next decade". Zhang was hosting a press event in the company's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, to highlight its plans for the upcoming "November 11" shopping festival, China's biggest annual online sales event. The e-commerce firm achieved a record 57.1 billion yuan ($9 billion) in sales during last year's 24-hour online buying spree on November 11. Zhang, who spoke entirely in English during the briefing to demonstrate Alibaba's determination to globalize, said this year's November 11 will be the first truly "global shopping festival". Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba, said at the event that people worry a bit too much about China's economy. "China's middle class is expected to double in the next seven years, which will be the new engine for the economy, " he said.
