Targeting Counterfeit

Alibaba also aims to draw in more US businesses to its Alibaba.com portal, as buyers and sellers. One strategy is to reduce the number of counterfeit goods, a major problem in China and a concern for companies considering sharing intellectual property such as technology and designs.

To that end, Alibaba has enlisted data company Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp, among others, to beef up a supplier-certification program it hopes will help draw in many of the estimated 27 million small-time American businesses and manufacturers that now operate mostly offline.

Validation could allow both sides to assure themselves that they are working with legitimate partners.

Jeff Stibel, who is heading up Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp's effort with Alibaba, said integration was starting, and it will launch its certification program early this year.

Alibaba also has some plans to sell to Americans.

Alibaba has a small US-based portal, 11Main.com, a collection of Internet storefronts for smaller businesses and products from yoga mats to scented candles. While it focuses on US consumers, a quarter of its 1.4 million listed products can already be shipped to Asia. It hopes eventually to help sellers gain access to Alibaba's US-Chinese corridor, 11Main President Mike Effle told Reuters.

Alibaba.com itself is an avenue to sell to Americans, as businessman Michael Sorrentino found at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year.

The chief executive of smartphone case maker Eyepatch estimates about 20 percent of US retailers he spoke with asked if they could buy his gear through Alibaba.com.

"That quickly taught me, whether I'm familiar or not with that platform, that I need to be on it," he said.