(Yicai Global) May 7 -- Alibaba Group Holding and the Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai today announced that they will set up a joint venture to promote the digital transformation of the exhibitions sector, with cloud-based events as its main business, The Paper reported.

The JV will be registered and based in Shanghai, the report said, citing Hangzhou-based Alibaba. The internet giant did not reveal the project’s investment amount or the two parties’ shareholding ratio.

Alibaba will leverage its core technical advantages in the fields of artificial intelligence, cloud computing and Big Data, and provide systematic solutions to the proposed cloud exhibition service platform based on the sector’s characteristics.

Alibaba’s cloud computing service unit, Alibaba Cloud, will use 3D modeling, mediated reality, augmented reality, and other technologies to create an immersive product display and trading experience for cloud exhibition companies and develop a special robot for exhibitors.

Alibaba’s commercial operating system will provide a series of services, including intelligent marketing and Big Data operations, for the cloud exhibition platform, and use algorithms to precisely link the supply and demand sides to ensure transaction security.

Alibaba’s 824 million monthly active mobile consumers in China will also bring a potentially huge consumer market for exhibitors.

Daniel Zhang, chairman and chief executive of Alibaba, said at the JV’s inaugural meeting that he hopes the cloud-based exhibition platform will combine the latest technologies with businesses and usher in an era of digital exhibition that will never end.

The Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade is a local branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. It organizes Shanghai companies to attend international exhibitions overseas, and hosts various large-scale international exhibitions in the east China metropolis to attract exhibitors from home and abroad.

Editor: Peter Thomas