(Yicai Global) June 26 -- Tmall Global, China's largest cross-border business-to-consumer online shopping platform, unveiled its first English-language website today to attract more merchants and businesses from around the world.

The new portal makes it easier for oversea sellers to exploit mushrooming Chinese consumer demand for high-quality imports, the e-commerce site owned by Hangzhou-based tech titan Alibaba Group Holding said in a statement today. 

Tmall Global is an online retail emporium that now features 20,000 international brands in over 4,000 categories from 77 countries and regions.

Launched in 2014, the portal had lured more 19,000 international brands from 75 countries and regions by September, Alibaba announced, with 90 percent using it as a springboard for their first foray into the Chinese market, Xinhua News Agency reported.

"We believe the launch of the English-language website will expedite the process for brands and merchants to introduce their products to Chinese consumers," said Yi Qian, the site's deputy general manager.

The new website details Tmall Global and the solutions it offers to overseas merchants on how to open a flagship store and provides tools that ease the signup process.

The move seeks to give the platform more allure for small, medium-sized and niche brands abroad with products that appeal to China's post-1995 generation, the company said.

It also plans to open other language versions, including Spanish, Japanese and Korean.

Tmall Global has logged significant growth in the past year and looks to continue the strong momentum. Its new flagship store openings doubled last year on the one before and growth seems set to pick up even more this year. 

Editor: Ben Armour