Alibaba joins peers in offering small business support

Chinese tech behemoth Alibaba has unveiled a number of measures to support smaller sellers in its ecosystem as the economic impact from the novel coronavirus outbreak begins to set in, including offering service fees waivers or reductions and financial assistance. Why it matters: The coronavirus epidemic that has immobilized China is hitting the country’s already-slowing economy, the growth rate of which has inched down to a multi-decade low (in Chinese) in 2019. Business interruption, rising costs, and consumer panic caused by the outbreak are pressuring small business owners. Alibaba’s efforts to support small- to medium-sized sellers may help it to retain merchants in a battle to fend off competition from rivals like Pinduoduo.