Thomas Videbæk (left), COO and executive vice president of Novozymes, shakes hands with Wang Hai, vice president of Alibaba, at the launch ceremony of the Danish company's online flagship store at 1688.com on Tuesday. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Danish company Novozymes has teamed up with Alibaba, China's biggest e-commerce company, to sell its enzymes and microorganism products online for the first time through Alibaba's platform for industrial products, 1688.com.

A global biological solution provider, the company has embraced digitalization to optimize its research and production and reach a wider range of potential customers.

Thomas Videbæk, COO and executive vice president of Novozymes, said data analysis, artificial intelligence techniques and other digital tools have been used to optimize production, speed up research, and automate work and processing.

"Digitalization has had an impact on every aspect of our company, including production, R&D, and support and commercial functions. We can now do automation to a degree that we have not been able to do before," Videbæk told China Daily.

"It is also helpful when predicting the needs of different partners, internally and externally, so that the company can be more proactive."

Company figures show that 1688.com, an e-platform for business-to-business transactions, is home to more than 10 million enterprises and receives 12 million daily visitors.

"By partnering with Alibaba, we will get even closer to our end-customers, address local market needs faster and explore new application opportunities," Videbæk said on Tuesday in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, where Alibaba is headquartered.

Wang Hai, vice president of Alibaba, said Novozymes is the first multinational company to partner with 1688.com in the industrial biotechnology industry.

"The launching of its flagship store will enrich the platform's supply sources and serve millions of small and medium-sized Chinese enterprises with the most cutting-edge biological solutions," Wang said.

Currently, the Novozymes flagship store is offering end-customers nine enzyme and microorganism products related to food, professional cleaning and wastewater. The company plans to offer a wider range of products at a later stage.

"China is the second biggest national market we have served globally. It is very important for us and it will continue to grow for years to come at a speed of above the average growth rate," said Videbæk.