Founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma. (File photo: People's Daily)

HANGZHOU, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The first Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) was officially launched Friday in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, according to local customs.

On Friday morning, 39 packages were declared on the platform before they were sent to countries including Russia and Spain by mail.

The eWTP initiative was proposed in 2016 by Jack Ma, founder of the e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba. It aims to promote public-private dialogue to improve the policy and business environment to enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in cross-border electronic trade.

SMEs can benefit from a series of preferential policies provided by the eWTP in areas including customs clearance, settlement exchanges and tax refunds.

As China's comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zone, Hangzhou is leading the country in the development of cross-border e-commerce.

The launch of eWTP is thanks to the joint efforts of the Hangzhou customs and Alibaba, which have taken innovative steps in tax refunds, exchange settlements and other aspects, according to Tang Li, the eWTP public service platform project manager.

Apart from Hangzhou, Alibaba is working with Malaysia and Belgium to build the eWTP. The platform is expected to promote the interconnection between Hangzhou and the world, and facilitate convenient and efficient trade for SMEs.