BEIJING, China - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Alibaba are joining forces to support China's rural vitalization plan.

ADB Vice-President Ahmed M. Saeed and Alibaba Group Partner and President of the Public Affairs Department Wen Jia on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

Under the agreement, ADB and Alibaba will jointly support China's rural vitalization program by promoting the development of the internet-plus economy to help modernize the agriculture sector, with the aim of helping eliminate extreme poverty. ADB will incorporate in its projects in China new technology platforms to support the digital rural economy using Alibaba's technological expertise.

"ADB and Alibaba each have unique resources and advantages they can use to support rural development, protect the urban and rural environment, improve the safety and quality of agricultural production, and increase farmers' incomes," Mr. Saeed said Wednesday. "We believe this cooperation will demonstrate how an international financial institution and a private sector leader can work together to address rural challenges using innovative approaches."

The cooperation will focus on three areas: promoting smart farming and Internet-plus agriculture technology applications in food and agriculture value chains; promoting ecological management through forest restoration, rural financial services, and crowd sourcing solutions to distribute funds to target beneficiaries; and digitizing and generating rural solid waste value streams.

Through the MOU, ADB says it is also embarking on a wider knowledge partnership with Alibaba to promote sharing of the latest Internet-plus and agriculture technology applications to ADB's clients through events and meetings, consultations, training and capacity development for government personnel, publications, and joint analytical work.

Alibaba Group, founded in Hangzhou in China, is a multinational conglomerate holding company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology.

Pictured: ADB Vice-President Mr. Ahmed M. Saeed (left) and Alibaba Group Partner and President of the Public Affairs Department Ms. Wen Jia (right).