Alibaba Group will shift its focus from the global market to China this year. The retail giant believes that it would benefit if it expands and refines its products and service offerings in China and focus on growing in rural areas. 

Writing in the company's blog, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang said that the Alibaba will "consolidate and expand" the Chinese market in 2016.

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This move comes at a time when China is facing a slowing economy, heightened e-commerce competition and new markets. While other companies scramble for global reach, Alibaba is turning its efforts on defending its stand in the domestic market to provide possible growth opportunities in the long run. 

After all, China is Alibaba's biggest market, accounting to 83 percent of its 2015 revenue. A slowdown in the economy may not have a severe impact on the company as roughly 44 percent of China's Internet users (accounting to 668 million Chinese as of June 2015) have not yet gone shopping online. With more effort from the company poured into China's market, Alibaba may have the chance to lure more people to online shopping, thus, avoiding any possibilities of enduring the economic slowdown.

But this does not explain all the reasons for Alibaba's latest move. The fact is that competition in China's hinterland is getting tougher, with JD.com, Alibaba's biggest competitor, spending more and more of its resources on logistics and training centers.

Alibaba will definitely not let itself fall behind as it gears towards reaching customers in rural areas, who comprise 46 percent of China's total population.

TagsJD.com, china retail, daniel zhang