Alibaba’s AliExpress warns of delays
MADRID (Reuters) – AliExpress, the global e-commerce platform of Chinese online-shopping giant Alibaba, on Tuesday warned customers there may be some delivery delays due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“Some shipping and logistics are experiencing longer waiting times for processing orders,” it said in a Facebook post.
AliExpress is one of the most downloaded shopping apps globally, part of a growing e-commerce trend in which consumers worldwide buy goods, such as cellphone cases and clothing, directly from manufacturers mostly based in China.
Alibaba Group warned in February of a drop in revenue at its key e-commerce businesses as the coronavirus sweeping China hit supply chains and deliveries.
Launched in 2010, AliExpress is particularly popular in Russia, the United States, Brazil, Spain and France.
Meanwhile, China will step up its efforts to support transportation and logistics firms, including steeper tax and fee cuts, state television quoted the cabinet as saying on Tuesday.
Authorities will guide transportation and logistics firms, including express-delivery firms, to resume operations in an orderly manner, the cabinet was quoted as saying at a regular meeting.
The government will step up tax and fee cuts for transportation and logistics firms, which will pay half of land-use taxes for bulk commodity storage, the cabinet said.
From March 1 to June 30, port construction fees for import and export goods will be exempted, and government-set fees on port facilities will be reduced by 20%, the cabinet said.
The cabinet reiterated that it will strive to maintain economic operations within a reasonable range this year.