Jack Ma (L), executive chairman of Alibaba Group and Roberto Azevêdo, director-general of the WTO. [Photo from zjol.com]

Representatives from Alibaba and WTO hold discussions at Alibaba's Hangzhou headquarters. [Photo from zjol.com]

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is looking at how to use e-commerce to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) trade, said Roberto Azevêdo, director-general of WTO, during a meeting with Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba, on Sept 6.

"Trade has been at the top of the agenda here in Hangzhou — at both the G20 and B20 summits — with leaders calling for trade to be at the heart of efforts towards global growth," Azevêdo explained. "As part of this, we must trade more inclusively — allowing everyone to take part and feel the benefits. That means trade must work for SMEs."

Azevêdo looked forward to joint efforts with Jack Ma on global trade after the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) was included in the official communiqué of the G20 Summit held in Hangzhou, home of Alibaba's headquarters.

Jack Ma said WTO and eWTP share high consensus in the aspect of open-mindedness, and with the support of eWTP, WTO will upgrade from 1.0 to 2.0.

Ma agreed with Azevêdo’s idea of reforming and upgrading WTO. He said freer global trade and development can be achieved by cooperation and eWTP and WTO are complementary to each other.

Ma thought the new purpose for eWTP and WTO is to create a global trading environment with more fairness, more transparency, and more simplicity.

This is the second meeting between Azevêdo and Jack Ma. Recalling the last meeting in Kazakhstan, Ma said they had a very pleasant talk as they shared the same vision of making the world more inclusive.

In the first half of 2016, Jack Ma has visited more 30 countries and regions. He said there was no country unwilling to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or young people. All they are concerned with is how to make it workable.

Jack Ma takes his "Hangzhou experience" with him when traveling on business. He said Hangzhou's good at exporting and it is one of the most experienced trading cities in China.

In Ma’s opinion, Hangzhou is able to be an excellent model city for import and export business and it can be a main online hub of eWTP. Ma said he would share his Hangzhou experience with other countries and cities on export trade.