Shenzhen's "Going Global Infrastructure" Forges New Vitality in Foreign Trade

On December 19, an article titled *Shenzhen's "Going Global Infrastructure" Forges New Vitality in Foreign Trade* highlighted how the Shenzhen Alibaba Center and the GoGlobal Service Center are collaborating to build an integrated "going global" infrastructure through public-private partnerships. This initiative leverages institutional innovation and technological inclusivity to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) mitigate cross-border risks and enhance international competitiveness.

This month, the Shenzhen Alibaba Center and GoGlobal Service Center announced a strategic partnership and launched the Y/OUR SPACE entrepreneurship hub. Backed by Alibaba Group, the Shenzhen Alibaba Center joins forces with GoGlobal, a one-stop overseas service platform established under the guidance of the Shenzhen Nanshan District government. Their collaboration goes beyond creating a mere "incubation space"—it pioneers a new model to empower SMEs in global expansion. By deepening public-private coordination, they aim to construct a comprehensive "going global infrastructure" that integrates institutional innovation, technological inclusivity, and ecosystem cultivation. This transforms macro-level foreign trade advantages into tangible, accessible productivity for individual enterprises.

Amid this year’s volatile international trade landscape, traditional "double-clearance tax-included" freight forwarding models have exposed operational vulnerabilities, disproportionately affecting SMEs. Conventional support policies often focus on front-end incentives like tax breaks and subsidies, lacking effective integration of mid- and back-end service ecosystems for overseas expansion. The "Shenzhen Alibaba Center × GoGlobal" model represents a fresh approach.

Specifically, GoGlobal serves as an authoritative "service integrator" and "standard-setter," aggregating over 290 professional institutions to offer a "Five-Service" system covering business, legal, tax, financial, and operational support. Government credibility and coordination inject much-needed trust and order into this service market. Meanwhile, Alibaba contributes its digital trade capabilities from Alibaba International, Cainiao’s smart logistics network, and Alibaba Cloud’s digital infrastructure. This model directly addresses core barriers identified by the WTO’s SME Working Group: complex regulations and limited resources.

"Even a 1-2 person startup team can find suitable space, services, and resources here," said Liu Fei, Vice President of Alibaba Group, underscoring the partnership’s deeper goal: decentralizing large enterprises’ technological capabilities. This design paves a "highway" for technological inclusivity. At Y/OUR SPACE, entrepreneurs no longer face a fragmented, uncertain service market but a curated "service menu" endorsed by both government and business. The concept aligns with the "Going Global Assistant APP" launched at the China International Import Expo, which also leverages AI assistants and vetted service networks to resolve language, compliance, and resource-matching challenges in one stop.

Technological inclusivity reduces trial-and-error costs for SMEs. For instance, traditional manufacturers can use Alibaba International’s digital tools to test overseas market responses more accurately, avoiding the financial strain of blind inventory buildup. Such certainty creates a "risk buffer," allowing SMEs to focus limited resources on product innovation and market expansion rather than risk mitigation and legal disputes.

Beyond immediate benefits, this model fosters an industrial "rainforest" rather than isolated "trees." At Y/OUR SPACE, entrepreneurs from education tech, business consulting, AI, and other fields share space and ideas, sparking unexpected innovations. As cross-border innovators connect through shared infrastructure, powerful network effects and knowledge spillovers emerge, forming a collaborative "global fleet." This ecosystem-driven approach aligns with the shift from "supply chain globalization" to "brand and ecosystem globalization," elevating not just order volumes but also the professionalism and sophistication of cross-border services—strengthening the industrial foundation of foreign trade.

In essence, the Shenzhen Alibaba Center and GoGlobal are piloting a solution: under the "twin engines" of institutional innovation and technological inclusivity, they aim to embed foreign trade competitiveness into the resilience of every micro-enterprise. By harmonizing governance and market mechanisms, they transform strategic advantages into vitality for countless market cells.