1688's Wang Qiang: AI Is Rewriting the Overseas Expansion Path for Chinese Factories

【Ebrun Original】At the recent Guangdong Intelligent Manufacturing AI Overseas Expansion Platform Matchmaking Conference and Accio Business Growth Summit, Wang Qiang, Vice President of Alibaba's 1688, stated that AI is entering B2B procurement and operational processes, changing the way buyers find suppliers, platforms match supply and demand, and factories showcase their capabilities. For source factories, whether their products and services can be recognized, understood, and matched to procurement needs by AI will become an important condition for winning orders.

According to Wang Qiang's disclosure in his speech, currently about 40% of demand on the 1688 platform is initiated by AI, and approximately 290,000 merchants participate in AI scheduling and matching every day. He judged that the application of procurement Agents will help overseas buyers find Chinese suppliers more directly and further amplify the value of Chinese factories in production and fulfillment.

In September this year, 1688 connected with Alibaba International Station; on October 13, 1688 announced full integration with the global e-commerce AI workbench Accio, opening it to the platform's over 100 million annual active buyers and more than 1 million source manufacturers, covering procurement, store operations, and multi-platform management scenarios.

Wang Qiang further introduced that Accio is advancing from providing business analysis and recommendations to executing specific operational tasks. Meanwhile, 1688 plans to launch an overseas expansion product in November for merchants who have never done foreign trade, involving two approaches: membership integration and product integration, with specific plans not yet disclosed.

01 Changes in Procurement Entry Points: Factories Need to Make AI Understand Their Capabilities

In Wang Qiang's view, AI's impact on e-commerce first occurs on the procurement side. Traditional procurement usually starts with platform search, where buyers find goods through keywords, then compare prices, send inquiries, and screen suppliers through multiple rounds of communication. After introducing Agents, buyers can first propose procurement needs, and AI will understand, screen, and compare them, then provide decision-making references.

This change is happening both on and off the platform. Wang Qiang introduced that AI is already involved in the procurement workflow on the 1688 platform, and some brand owners and buyers are also building their own procurement Agents or embedding AI into existing procurement processes to find and match suppliers.

Changes in procurement methods also impose new information expression requirements on factories. In the past, merchants mainly showcased themselves to buyers through product images, text, prices, and service commitments. When AI is introduced on the procurement side, factories also need to provide data that can support judgments of their capabilities.

"In the past, it was enough to let buyers see me; now it's necessary to let AI understand me," Wang Qiang said. AI needs to judge whether a factory truly possesses the production, flexible customization, or small-batch quick-return capabilities it claims, whether its service boundaries are clear, whether price, inventory, and fulfillment information are credible, and whether relevant data can be traced and audited.

He calls this type of supply that can be recognized, judged, and invoked by AI "AI-friendly supply." According to the introduction, helping merchants optimize supply information is a task Accio hopes to undertake.

In specific operations, Wang Qiang suggests that merchants organize product and store information around vertical categories or specific procurement groups. For example, factories supplying North American Amazon sellers should clearly define corresponding products, prices, and fulfillment conditions so that buyers can judge their professional capabilities.

He believes that B2B buyers' procurement decisions especially value certainty; beyond price, quality, inventory, delivery timeliness, and after-sales service all affect their downstream business.

02 From Analysis to Execution: Accio Goes Deep into Specific Operational Links

Regarding Accio's positioning, Wang Qiang describes it as an e-commerce infrastructure platform carrying different operational Agents. Merchants can use corresponding business assistants according to the platforms and businesses they operate, with the long-term goal of supporting merchants in handling multi-platform operational tasks in the same workbench.

From the perspective of merchant needs, Wang Qiang summarizes the main operational scenarios into three categories: in-stock goods, customization, and cross-border. In-stock merchants focus on new product launches, multi-store management, and operational efficiency; custom factories need to solve problems such as professional reception and complex quotations; cross-border merchants value market, category, and business opportunity insights.

In his speech, he introduced an application case of an OEM manufacturer in Henan. Because quotations involve multiple raw material prices and cost accounting, the company previously needed about two days to complete one round of quotation. After organizing historical quotation sheets into a knowledge base and letting AI understand the cost accounting method, the first-round quotation time was compressed to about two hours.

This case corresponds to the organization and reuse of enterprise operational knowledge. According to Wang Qiang, AI can not only shorten quotation time but also help less experienced salespeople participate in business faster.

Product capabilities are also continuing to advance toward execution. Wang Qiang revealed that in early October, some merchants were still unable to publish in-stock products through AI, but recently AI batch automatic product listing has been achieved. Automatic execution of product optimization, advertising placement, and other links is the direction for subsequent improvement.

"What many merchants need is not just a report, but after seeing store data, how to help them solve the problem," he said, indicating that the platform is gradually expanding its capabilities from providing recommendations to executing tasks.

03 AI Accelerates Supply-Demand Connection: Factories Still Have Different Paths for Overseas Expansion

Improved AI capabilities are expected to further amplify the value of China's supply chain. Wang Qiang said that in the past, overseas buyers looking for Chinese factories often needed to rely on sourcing agents, foreign trade companies, and supply chain service providers. The application of procurement Agents has the opportunity to shorten the information search and supply-demand matching links, allowing overseas buyers to contact Chinese factories more directly.

In this process, whether factories can clearly present their capabilities to AI will affect whether they can be included in the procurement scope. Wang Qiang believes that when more factories use Agents to organize supply information and improve response capabilities, some enterprises with production advantages will gain new overseas market opportunities.

However, after reaching overseas demand, factories still have different operational choices.

Wang Qiang introduced that 1688 merchants' overseas expansion paths mainly include two types: directly facing overseas buyers, and supplying domestic cross-border sellers, who then connect to overseas markets. For factories choosing direct overseas expansion, issues such as language, content, product qualifications, and compliance still need to be addressed.

He believes AI can provide help in market selection, demand identification, and preliminary judgment of compliance information, but further completion of cross-border operations and fulfillment still requires broader service support.

This difference is also reflected in the products the platform is preparing. Wang Qiang revealed that 1688 plans to launch an overseas expansion product in November for merchants without foreign trade experience, considering respectively the needs of merchants with direct operational capabilities and those who wish to continue focusing on supply, exploring two approaches: membership integration and product integration.

Regarding how factories should participate in the next stage of competition, Wang Qiang focuses on the combination of AI and supply chain: AI helps enterprises improve operational efficiency and adjust workflows, while the supply chain provides the quality, price, and service certainty required by B2B buyers.

Appendix: Wang Qiang Q&A Transcript

The following is organized based on on-site shorthand, with appropriate adjustments while preserving the original meaning.

Q: What are the differences in core AI needs among different types of merchants? What are the main difficulties in current applications?

Wang Qiang: It depends on the merchant's business stage and operating model.

Merchants that already have a certain scale hope to break through existing capabilities, including expanding categories and shifting from domestic trade to foreign trade. Merchants in the early startup stage have the most basic need to survive first and build their business through AI.

From the perspective of operating models, they can be divided into cross-border, customization, and in-stock goods, and some merchants do several at the same time. The core needs of custom merchants are how to respond quickly to complex quotations and how to help new salespeople reach the level of mature salespeople faster. In-stock merchants focus on multi-store management, image modification, and new product launches. Cross-border merchants focus more on market and business opportunity insights, including category trends in different countries and what products sell well where.

These scenarios can now apply AI; the problem lies in accuracy. A very important point is whether it can connect with merchants' data. Beyond general capabilities, to solve specific business pain points, the impact of data is very significant.

Q: Which merchants have stronger demand for products like Accio?

Wang Qiang: We have summarized several types of merchant profiles.

One type is teams of five or more people, operating multiple categories and multiple stores, already at the top in certain platforms or categories. These merchants actively use AI, but their stages of use and products differ.

Another type is teams of two or three people, with a certain business scale and relatively mature e-commerce operations, hoping to break through further and become top players.

Do not understand Accio only as a tool for solving efficiency problems. Merchants have broader needs, and it must form a strong connection with business growth. As for one-person companies where the boss also handles operations, packing, and logistics, using general AI products may also meet current needs.

Q: When merchants use Accio, which task should they prioritize getting working?

Wang Qiang: We also encountered a challenge when selling Accio. In the past, sales teams sold memberships and advertising, which were relatively certain standardized products. But Accio is not a standard product; each merchant has different expectations for Agents and AI.

Merchants first need to be clear about what they most need AI to help them solve. If it is only processing images or videos, there are many professional models that can do it, and Accio may not necessarily outperform them in individual capabilities. The key is what your core business problem is and how AI can help you solve it.

We also provide services after product sales. There is a service team of more than 300 people in Wuhan to help merchants complete initial use; for some customization needs, there is also an FDE team providing localized support. Merchants who truly use it well will deeply bind AI to their own business.

Q: After 1688 connects with Alibaba International Station, what problems will domestic trade merchants encounter when turning to foreign trade? What can AI help with?

Wang Qiang: The two businesses have not been connected for long. Turning from domestic trade to foreign trade is itself a trend, and many merchants hope to find more orders and profit space.

From 1688's perspective, there are two ways to do cross-border. One is to directly face overseas buyers; the other is to do foreign trade in the form of domestic trade, where factories supply domestic sellers on platforms such as Amazon and TikTok, and these buyers undertake part of the cross-border operational work.

If factories enter directly themselves, they will face a series of issues such as language, content, and compliance. Shenzhen has a relatively rich cross-border supply chain service ecosystem that can provide support.

AI can help merchants preliminarily identify product compliance requirements, determine which markets products are suitable for and which groups have procurement needs, and can also assist in handling information such as product specifications. Going further outward still requires broader support forces.

Next month, we will launch an overseas expansion product for some merchants who have never done foreign trade. Some merchants have the ability to operate directly, while others only want to supply and do not want to directly face overseas buyers and a series of cross-border thresholds. We will consider two approaches: membership integration and product integration.

Q: What operational problems can Accio further help merchants execute and solve?

Wang Qiang: Many general Agents can analyze stores and provide reports. But merchants also hope that after seeing store data, AI can help them solve the problem. In early October, some merchants' in-stock products could not yet be published through AI; a few days ago, AI batch automatic product listing was achieved.

Product optimization, advertising placement, and other links after store analysis will also gradually advance toward automatic execution. We hope to gradually move from giving recommendations to helping merchants execute. Because sometimes after AI gives recommendations, merchants still do not know exactly how to do it and need to spend time handling it.

Q: AI will accelerate factories' goods going global. What changes do you think will occur in the role of factories in the global supply chain?

Wang Qiang: Improved AI capabilities will instead amplify the irreplaceable value of China's supply chain.

In the past, when overseas buyers came to China for procurement, they often had to go through sourcing agents, foreign trade companies, or supply chain and logistics service companies. It is relatively difficult for overseas buyers to find factories directly, and some enterprises need to specially assign personnel responsible for the Chinese market.

Now, some brand owners have begun to use procurement Agents or put AI into procurement workflows, giving them the opportunity to find China's supply chain more directly, reducing information matching links, and allowing China's high-quality supply to directly face real overseas demand.

When more Agents form connections, factories that can be understood and judged by AI will have the opportunity to enter a broader procurement scope. Factories using Agents themselves can also optimize supply expression, making their capabilities easier to identify and thus finding new overseas markets. This is a huge opportunity.

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