Alibaba Group Holding Ltd inked a strategic cooperation agreement with the State-owned China Post Group on Thursday, a move that is expected to boost the e-commerce giant's presence in lower-tier cities.

Under the partnership, Alibaba Group and China Post, the world's largest postal network, will collaborate on logistics, e-commerce, finance and information security, jointly developing new business and new markets.

The area of e-commerce logistics is no doubt where the two sides see the most potential. In a statement issued by China Post, the two will open up their warehouses, processing centers and delivery resources to each other, building an e-commerce logistics platform that will serve third-party couriers in China.