Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group, announced it is commiting RMB300 million (US$47 million) to serve the Chinese New Year rush from February 1 to 3. 

This would cover subsidies to incentivize over 150,000 logistics employees and courier personnel in 300 Chinese cities.

In a statement, Cainiao noted that for consumers, this means that e-commerce purchases made on Alibaba platforms such as Taobao and Tmall will be dispatched as per normal, both in China and around the world.

"These personnel play an essential role in safeguarding logistics services ahead of the upcoming Spring Festival holiday in China," the Chinese logistics company said.

In anticipation of a surge in consumer demand, Cainiao’s warehouses spanning tens of millions square meters have pre-stocked over 200 million festive-related goods, with export warehouses seeing five times increase in pre-stock volume compared to last year. The pre-stocked goods include food, beauty products, furniture, household items and electronic appliances to support cross-border deliveries for over 10,000 Chinese merchants.

For overseas consumers in over 200 countries and regions, Cainiao’s export and overseas warehouses will maintain normal operations to ensure logistics timeliness of cross-border parcels.

Cainiao noted that this extends to cross-border logistics services for Lazada’s customers in Southeast Asia, where there are Cainiao’s distribution centers and warehouses in various cities. 

Cainiao will also subsidize selected cross-border logistics routes and services so that export merchants can enjoy the most cost-effective logistics services, it added.

In addition, Cainiao’s warehouses in over 30 industrial manufacturing belts will support the logistics needs of manufacturers to facilitate direct dispatch from factories to consumers in 300 Chinese cities, of which consumers in 209 cities will experience the same logistics efficiency as before.

Cainiao said its bonded warehouses situated near 20 ports in China will upkeep regular operations to further safeguard delivery timeliness of imported goods from thousands of overseas merchants to consumers in 200 Chinese cities, while doubling the delivery radius from last year.

Cainiao said in 2021, Chinese consumers alone spent approximately US$127 billion on shopping and dining, a 28.7% increase from 2020.

Other countries also saw growth in retail consumption during the Spring Festival last year. It said Singapore recorded a 5.2% rise in retail sales and Malaysia saw a spike in online shopping figures last year.

"These figures are expected to increase this year as a result of growing consumers’ desire to send new year gifts to their loved ones who are physically separated due to the pandemic," Cainiao added.