China's Alibaba teams up with US PayPal

Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba said Tuesday its new transaction platform would accept payments from users of US online payment service PayPal, amid efforts to expand overseas.

AliExpress allows small businesses to purchase products listed on the site in their preferred currency using PayPal, Alibaba said in a statement.

PayPal, a subsidiary of US e-commerce giant eBay, has more than 84 million active users around the world and allows payment in 24 currencies.

"Our work with companies such as PayPal is crucial because we want to make sure we are meeting the needs of our customers by making payment as fast, safe and easy as possible," said David Wei, chief executive of Alibaba.com, the Hong Kong-listed unit of Alibaba Group.

Suppliers of products listed on AliExpress are mainly Chinese, but Alibaba said it aims to open the site to international suppliers so buyers will "have a strong base of suppliers to choose from".

AliExpress was officially launched Monday but has been trialled since September.

(c) 2010 AFP