According to local media reports, the new complex will consist of seven buildings spanning approximately 1 million square meters (10.7 million square feet) of floor space, with enough office space to accommodate 30,000 employees. It is said that there is It is the largest campus of Alibaba, the owner of the South China Morning Post.
On Thursday, the day before Alibaba's annual family and employee celebration known as AliDay, the company posted a post written by co-founder Jack Ma in 2004 on its flagship e-commerce platform Taobao. Republished in an online forum.
“The biggest beneficiary of a true, good, great e-commerce website should be its users, and its biggest builders should also be users,” Ma wrote, noting that Alibaba recently launched a forum. After reviving it, it attracted a lot of new comments.
Alibaba executives were not present at the unveiling of the new office, which was held on Aliday, a day when employees' families can visit the company. The event comes days before the company releases its financial results for the fiscal year that ended March 31.
Equipped with smart, eco-friendly equipment, a soccer field, and other sports facilities, the campus will serve as Alibaba's global headquarters.
The existing Xixi Area A campus will become the headquarters for Taobao, Tmall and other domestic e-commerce businesses, while Xixi Area B will be transformed into an “open park” for Alibaba's business partners, the company said.
On Friday, Alibaba also announced a new campus in Beijing's Chaoyang district, which is expected to house about 19,000 employees, according to the state-run Beijing Daily.
In China, the shiny office buildings of big tech companies often become landmarks in the cities in which they operate.
Tencent Holdings, for example, is building a new campus nicknamed Penguin City in Shenzhen, a technology hub in southern Guangdong province.
The Sohu headquarters of one of the country's earliest web portals has lured an artificial intelligence startup to Zhongguancun, a Beijing district known as China's Silicon Valley.
Alibaba has long played an important role in the economy of Hangzhou, Ma's hometown.
Alibaba said its new headquarters will be based on the concept of “green, technology, and sustainability” and will feature smart office systems equipped with cutting-edge technologies such as the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence.
Employees can scan quick response codes at each desk to adjust the air conditioning in conference rooms, control lighting, and use projectors. The facility will also be able to precisely manage energy consumption through a “carbon reduction brain,” the company said.
