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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY<br />
1. Some 3,000 participants from more<br />
than 20 nations converged at the<br />
APEC SME Summit co-hosted by<br />
<strong>Alibaba</strong> Group in September <strong>2009</strong> to<br />
discuss issues concerning the growth<br />
and development of small businesses.<br />
2. In <strong>2009</strong>, <strong>Alibaba</strong>.com launched<br />
national contests in the United States<br />
and the United Kingdom to foster<br />
entrepreneurship.<br />
2<br />
46 <strong>Alibaba</strong>.com Limited <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2009</strong><br />
1<br />
Social responsibility is an integral part of <strong>Alibaba</strong>.com’s business<br />
model and we are committed to the welfare of the global<br />
community. This includes incorporating social aspects into our<br />
products and programs to create a more sustainable future,<br />
as well as engaging in community relief and environmental<br />
protection. As in previous years, we organized a number of<br />
initiatives in <strong>2009</strong> to help improve our community and to provide<br />
channels for our employees to give back to society.<br />
BOLSTERING THE LONG-TERM<br />
COMPETITIVENESS OF SMALL<br />
BUSINESSES<br />
<strong>Alibaba</strong>.com focuses on serving small businesses, as they<br />
are the engine for economic growth and job creation around<br />
the world. Nevertheless, they are also the ones who face<br />
the greatest difficulties in doing business. In <strong>2009</strong>, our 10 th<br />
year of operation, we adopted a new approach to helping<br />
small businesses by addressing all their common everyday<br />
challenges, including difficulties in financing and management.<br />
This aims to empower them to survive and thrive in the long<br />
term.<br />
In <strong>2009</strong>, we continued our cooperation with leading banks in<br />
China in the loan-assistance program Ali-Loan to help small<br />
businesses obtain financial support. Under the program, we<br />
help banks assess the creditworthiness of our paying members<br />
based on their trade activity and trust rating on our online<br />
marketplace. The arrangement has enabled the participating<br />
companies to overcome barriers to bank financing, such as the<br />
inability to provide enough tangible assets to meet collateral<br />
requirements and the absence of a national credit ratings<br />
system, to secure loans for business expansion. Stepping<br />
up our efforts to help underfinanced small businesses, we<br />
expanded the program within Zhejiang Province and to<br />
Shanghai in August in partnership with China Construction Bank<br />
and the municipal and provincial governments. A loan-guarantee<br />
fund of RMB60 million each was established in Zhejiang<br />
Province, Hangzhou and Shanghai with capital from <strong>Alibaba</strong><br />
Group, China Construction Bank and the government entities<br />
concerned to back up the loans granted to local companies.<br />
As of the end of <strong>2009</strong>, our customers received more than<br />
RMB6 billion in principal amounts of loans under the Ali-Loan<br />
program. The default rate on Ali-Loans is substantially less than<br />
that of traditional loans made by commercial banks in China,<br />
demonstrating that this loan model can be a viable solution to<br />
small businesses’ challenges in financing.
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