Kuehne + Nagel announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Alibaba.com, the B2B business arm of Alibaba Group, to offer global logistics services to customers of the Chinese e-commerce leader's B2B business unit. Under the MoU, Kuehne + Nagel's global logistics network and comprehensive capabilities will combine with Alibaba's expertise in B2B e-commerce, to offer China based shippers leading e-commerce logistics solutions.

Since more than a year, Alibaba.com's paid members in China have been able to instantly obtain quotations, book pickup and destination delivery services for airfreight consignments via Kuehne + Nagel's digital solution KN FreightNet on Alibaba.com. The e-commerce relationship has already been extended to include less-than-container-load (LCL) solutions as well. Now, the strategic partnership will draw closer cooperation between the e-commerce giant and Kuehne + Nagel with intent to expand the scope of logistics services on offer in the near future to cover the various modes of transportation (air, sea, rail, overland) and contract logistics outside China.

Steve Su, Director of Logistics at Alibaba.com, said: We are pleased to partner with Kuehne + Nagel to offer our SME customers comprehensive logistics services, enabling them to capitalise on cross-border trade opportunities.

 Wong Siew Loong, President North Asia Kuehne + Nagel, said: We are excited to enter this MoU with Alibaba.com bringing together Alibaba's e-commerce penetration with Kuehne + Nagel's worldwide logistics capabilities. For Kuehne + Nagel, the establishment of this relationship is in line with our global strategy to digitalise logistics services in order to meet the evolving needs of customers today. We look forward to further developing this cooperation by expanding the scope of our ecommerce logistics offering to Alibaba customers in the future.