By Commerce Reporter
KARACHI: Alibaba.com, a leading B2B e-commerce platform, hosted its flagship event CoCreate 2025 in the United States of America, unveiling its most ambitious AI-driven transformation for global trade and creating opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide.
Read also: Pakistan’s digital leap: Alibaba.com to train SMEs, expand global market access
Pace Sports, a Sialkot-based manufacturer of custom sportswear and sublimated team uniforms, represented Pakistan at CoCreate 2025. Founder Mr. Tehseen Abbas, a verified Alibaba.com seller with over a decade of experience on the platform attending his first U.S. trade show, delivered a compelling address on shifting global buyer behavior and data-driven apparel sourcing trends. With more than 80% of his company’s revenue generated through Alibaba.com, he made a strong case for Pakistan as a top-tier apparel sourcing destination.
Commenting on the experience, Mr. Tehseen Abbas said: “Attending CoCreate 2025 was a valuable opportunity for both me and for showcasing Pakistan’s strengths on a global platform. The immediate response of U.S. buyers was outstanding, and my session proved that Pakistan’s apparel industry is increasingly seen as a reliable and competitive sourcing destination. Alibaba.com’s AI tools are expected to help Pakistani SMEs grow more quickly in the coming years.”
Around 63 per cent of SMEs worldwide now seek AI tools to do cross-border trade, according to Alibaba.com Research. Responding to this shift, Alibaba.com introduces Deep Search, an AI-powered B2B procurement tool that transforms complex sourcing with multimodal capabilities — understanding long natural-language queries and image-based searches simultaneously. Unlike traditional engines, Deep Search dissects queries into core components, cross-references to 280 million B2B-specific product listings, and ranks results by hyper relevance to deliver precise supplier matches alongside product results.
“AI isn’t a luxury. It’s survival, especially in B2B, where high-stakes decisions demand innovation,” said Kuo Zhang, President of Alibaba.com. “User behavior is evolving: keyword searches no longer suffice. B2B demands long-form, multimodal AI tools to navigate global trade. That’s why we’re overhauling our 26-year-old business, empowering SMEs to thrive in a world where speed, precision, and adaptability matter most.”
Launched in 1999, Alibaba.com is a leading platform for global business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce that serves buyers and suppliers from over 200 countries and regions around the world. It is engaged in services covering various aspects of commerce, including providing businesses with tools that help them reach a global audience for their products and helping buyers discover products, find suppliers and place orders online fast and efficiently. Alibaba.com is part of Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group.
CoCreate is the world’s leading sourcing event, connecting global ecommerce sellers, retailers, and wholesalers with top manufacturers and industry experts. By fostering face-to-face collaboration, the summit empowers businesses to discover innovative products, optimize supply chains, and build partnerships that drive long-term growth.
About the Author
