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China e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (BABA.US; 9988.HK) eked out 5% revenue growth in its latest quarterly results announced last Wednesday. Despite that modest gain, a bright spot for the company came from Alibaba International Digital Commerce (Alibaba International), its international e-commerce arm, whose revenue jumped by a much larger 44% to $4.02 billion in the final three months of last year.

Revenue from its core retail e-commerce business grew by an even stronger 56% to $3.28 billion, accounting for more than 80% of the total. Its AliExpress B2C platform was a key contributor to the good results, recording 60% order growth. AliExpress is one of the leading global B2C marketplaces, operating in 17 languages and allowing consumers to buy directly from Chinese manufacturers.