File photo shows the Alibaba employees entering the company in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.Photo:Xinhua

The Hangzhou Market Supervision Bureau signed on Tuesday a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Alibaba to enhance the healthy and high-quality development of the e-commerce platform, according to its official Wechat account, as the country accelerates its economic recovery and vigorously promotes the digital economy.

Ma Chengrong, director of Hangzhou city's market regulator, thought highly of the achievements by Alibaba in promoting online consumption, technology research and development in the past many years. As one of the most important flagship e-commerce platforms which puts Hangzhou on the global stage, the group has made an outstanding contribution in contributing to local development, promoting employment and international competition.

The Hangzhou city's market supervisor is the eyewitness of Alibaba's rapid growth, and the two sides have maintained good interaction and cooperation, leading the country in online market governance, consumer protection, optimization of local business environment and combating malfeasance.

Ma said that the signing of a new strategic cooperation agreement will strengthen the confidence of China platform enterprises to take root in Hangzhou and lead to further innovations. The authority will support Alibaba in business expansion, job creation, and joining international competition.

The bureau hopes that the group will continue to be a leader in government-enterprise cooperation, compliance and innovation, achieving new breakthroughs in cooperation  linked to intellectual property protection and consumer rights production, in a bid to drive the optimization of local development ecology, and lead more platform companies to "fly higher and farther."

Meanwhile, the department will try to provide better services, and improve its scientific and responsive level of regulatory services.

Alibaba said that it will empower the development of operators within the platform, helping optimize the online business environment, and continuously improving the effectiveness of consumer protection through innovation.

The signing of the agreement came after the visit of Yi Lianhong, secretary of Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, to Alibaba in December, and the signing of a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement between the Hangzhou city government and Alibaba in January.

Experts noted that the new business models and services including livestreaming, online shopping and food delivery, which have promoted high-quality consumption and create many jobs.

The country's leadership has reaffirmed the important role played by the platform companies in leading economic development, creating jobs and enhancing Chinese competitiveness among global peers.

This year's Government Work Report reiterated that China will vigorously develop the digital economy, enhance the level of government supervision, and support the development of the platform economy.

Subsequently, local governments including Beijing, and East China's Jiangsu and Shandong provinces said they will further support the healthy development of the platform economy. For instance, Beijing city proposed to closely follow the platform companies' needs related to their business expansion in the city, by providing more targeted services and support to the platform economy, according to media reports.

Global Times