Alibaba cancels Liège expansion

Cainiao, the logistics subsidiary of Alibaba Group, will not move forward with its planned expansion at Liège Airport in Belgium. Two new warehouses that were on the drawing board will not be built, dealing a blow to Wallonia’s ambition to turn Liège into an ecommerce logistics hotspot.

The Chinese ecommerce giant has informed the airport authorities in Liège that it will not expand its facilities there. Instead, the group will focus on operating its existing infrastructure, which was inaugurated at the end of 2021. The Walloon Minister of Economy confirmed Alibaba Group’s strategic review this week. The regional government emphasized that Cainiao remains a strategic partner of the airport.

Plots near the airport

Over the past few years, the logistics arm of the Chinese group acquired several plots of land north of Liège Airport, totaling more than 200,000 square meters. On that site, a logistics warehouse of about 30,000 square meters was built and completed four years ago, creating several hundred new jobs for Wallonia, the southern, French-speaking part of Belgium.

The Liège facility shortened AliExpress’ delivery times

The new air route and logistics solution helped AliExpress reduce delivery times in Europe by 30 percent, strengthening its cross-border ecosystem. It also paved the way for Alibaba’s marketplace Lazada to enter the European market.

Two warehouses scrapped

In addition to the existing warehouse, two more facilities were planned – measuring 24,000 and 20,000 square meters respectively – but those will not be built. The news is disappointing for Wallonia, which aims to position itself as a logistics hub for Asian ecommerce companies.

‘An efficient and smooth intelligent backbone network’

Liège is the centerpiece of Cainiao’s European network, the Alibaba subsidiary writes on its website. The network is “centered around the Liège e-Hub and connects air routes, China-Europe trains, and ocean freight to form an efficient and smooth intelligent backbone network”. It remains unclear whether – and where – Cainiao plans to open new warehouses elsewhere on the continent.

Local fulfillment

Meanwhile, Alibaba is trying to attract more European sellers. Last summer, its marketplace AliExpress launched Local+ in Europe, a fulfillment solution that allows merchants to outsource and speed up shipping. For this platform, AliExpress has partnered with several external warehouses across the continent.