Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce company, Monday officially started the operation of its English platform AliExpress, in an effort to globalize its brand.

The launch of AliExpress, an English e-commerce platform that supports smaller quantity orders, instant online transactions and an escrow service to protect buyers and sellers, is targeted at the US market.

"AliExpress has being doing well since its trial operation starting from September 2009, and has fought into the top three of international online trade platforms," said David Wei, chief executive officer of Alibaba.

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2010)