Amazon's Latest Business Move: Shanghai's Free-Trade Zone

Amazon announced today that it will be coming to the Shanghai free-trade zone soon, something that will potentially boost its sales in China. According to the Internet retailer, a deal has been penned with the related authorities, and it is slated to launch a logistics warehouse to "experiment with financial innovation," among other things.

Alibaba is cited as one of the competitors Amazon is hoping to challenge with the new business move, a company that is said to have gobbled up about 80-percent of online sales in China in 2013. According to the Wall Street Journal, neither Amazon nor Alibaba have issued a comment about the new business move.

Amazon has been slowly constructing a presence in China for the last decade or so, and how moving into the free-trade zone will transform its efforts aren't known. Details on the plans are slight at this point, but follow a long line of changes the company has made to further target the Chinese market.

The company's newly appointed China division leader Doug Gurr said today, "We seek to be the most customer-obsessed online shopping platform with vast selections, competitive price and most convenience in China."

SOURCE: WSJ