India partners with Alibaba.com for export push despite past China tech bans

India’s authorities has partnered with China’s Alibaba.com connected an export-focused programme aimed astatine helping startups and tiny businesses scope overseas buyers. The determination highlights New Delhi’s selective engagement with Chinese-linked tech platforms years aft it imposed sweeping bans connected user apps and games.

This week, the Indian government’s Startup India inaugural announced the collaboration with Alibaba.com to place and enactment Indian startups that tin assistance onboard and standard Indian exporters connected the group’s planetary B2B platform. The programme offers commissions and method enactment to those startups to assistance tiny manufacturers and traders successful reaching overseas markets.

The caller concern arrives aft years of strained India–China relations. New Delhi banned dozens of Chinese-linked apps successful 2020 pursuing a deadly borderline clash, including large platforms specified arsenic TikTok, PUBG Mobile, and AliExpress, an e-commerce app operated by Alibaba Group. Those restrictions stay successful place, making the Indian government’s nationalist collaboration with Alibaba’s export-focused level a cautiously circumscribed signifier of engagement alternatively than a broader argumentation reset.

India’s export ambitions are intimately tied to its tiny businesses and the platforms they usage to scope overseas markets. Micro, small, and mean enterprises relationship for nearly fractional of the country’s exports and astir 31% of GDP, according to the Indian government’s latest Economic Survey, underlining wherefore New Delhi has focused connected expanding integer marketplace entree for smaller firms done planetary B2B channels, including Alibaba.com.

Alibaba.com’s B2B level connects much than 50 cardinal progressive buyers crossed implicit 200 countries and regions, said Rocky Lu, caput of India concern astatine the company.

“Alibaba.com has been progressive successful India for implicit 2 decades, and we stay dedicated to our halfway ngo of empowering MSMEs to standard their businesses globally,” Lu told TechCrunch. “Our absorption continues to beryllium connected leveraging our integer infrastructure to assistance ‘Made successful India’ products scope an planetary assemblage done integer transformation.”

Lu did not corroborate whether the Startup India inaugural marks Alibaba.com’s archetypal nonstop concern with India’s national authorities since 2020. He said, however, that the institution has “maintained a accordant cadence of engagement with assorted authorities and semi-government bodies integral to the Indian export ecosystem,” including done integer grooming programs for MSMEs and collaborations with export promotion councils.

The concern reflects India’s differentiated attack toward China, maintaining restrictions successful strategical and security-sensitive sectors portion allowing economical engagement wherever determination is wide benefit, said Kazim Rizvi, founding manager of the New Delhi-based nationalist argumentation deliberation vessel The Dialogue.

“Going forward, regulatory clarity volition beryllium important,” Rizvi told TechCrunch. “Predictable argumentation environments volition assistance guarantee that startups consciousness assured participating successful specified initiatives.”

The Indian authorities seems to beryllium drafting a favoritism betwixt export-focused platforms and consumer-facing Chinese apps, said George Chen, spouse and co-chair of the integer signifier astatine The Asia Group, a Washington-based consultancy that advises companies connected argumentation and geopolitical risks crossed Asia. Chen, who antecedently served arsenic a determination nationalist argumentation manager astatine Meta, said New Delhi sees worth successful Alibaba’s relation successful supporting B2B exports, peculiarly fixed the platform’s scope successful markets specified arsenic Africa, which could assistance Indian exporters diversify their planetary sales.

India appears to beryllium drafting lessons from China’s attack to integer platforms, Chen told TechCrunch.

“China bans overseas apps similar Facebook and Instagram for Chinese idiosyncratic users but inactive allows Facebook and Google to bash concern with Chinese companies, particularly exporters who trust connected those platforms to merchantability products abroad,” Chen said.

The Startup India collaboration follows different caller steps by Alibaba.com to grow export-focused services successful India. In June 2025, the institution launched its Trade Assurance programme successful the country, aimed astatine helping Indian tiny and medium-sized exporters negociate risks successful cross-border transactions done outgo extortion and quality solution tools.

The developments besides travel arsenic India and China amusement tentative signs of improved engagement successful multilateral exertion forums, with Chinese representatives expected to attend the India AI Impact Summit successful New Delhi adjacent week. Indian officials, however, person not indicated immoderate alteration to restrictions connected Chinese user exertion platforms.

The Indian commerce ministry did not respond to a petition for comments.