Alibaba expects sales to grow

The Alibaba Group signaled Thursday that for all the global worries about China’s rising debt and bloated state industries, its economy still enjoys a strong pillar of support: online shoppers. Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant that is partly owned by Yahoo, said Thursday during an investor conference that it expects revenue for its current fiscal year to grow at a much higher rate than analysts had forecast. It cited expectations for growing sales volumes on its online marketplaces and, even more strongly, higher demand by merchants for its ad space.

Alibaba’s forecast illustrates the power of China’s vast and cuttingedge online culture. Though the government strictly controls political content and entertainment, China has evolved into the world’s largest group of Internet users who comfortably shop, transfer money, invest and even rent bicycles with the tap of a smartphone. Online shopping has been a bright spot as economists worry about China’s rising corporate debt and overcapacity in its old-line industries like steel and glass.

China’s digital growth will not last forever, though, and even Alibaba’s numbers show that China’s online world cannot counter the laws of diminishing returns. Still, the ranks of China’s online shoppers grew nearly 13 percent last year to a considerable 467 million, according to official statistics, showing the already vast market is still growing.

During a speech at the conference, Alibaba Chief Financial Officer Maggie Wu said that the company expects revenue for the year that will end in March to grow between 45 and 49 percent. That is slightly down from the 56 percent growth the company registered in fiscal year 2017, which ended in March. Still, it shows that the company is expecting to keep growing at a fast pace in the coming year.