New York (CNN Business) Alibaba said Tuesday it is opening up the Alibaba.com platform, allowing American companies to sell their products to small- and mid-sized business buyers around the world. That will help Alibaba (BABA) better compete with Amazon (AMZN) and Shopify (SHOP), which already have a thriving marketplace for large companies to sell to business customers across the globe.

Previously, American businesses could buy only on the Alibaba.com platform. Now they can sell to other businesses in the United States, China and elsewhere.

Office Depo ODP .H. Robinson Worldwid, CHRW Alibaba, founded by billionaire Jack Ma, saidand Robinson Fresh, a produce seller owned by logistics company Care two of the top US companies taking part in the launch.

The so-called B2B industry generated $23.9 trillion in revenue globally in 2016 while e-commerce sales directly to consumers totaled $3.8 trillion that year, according to figures from the United States International Trade Commission . And much of this revenue will be to Chinese businesses.

"Alibaba aims to empower entrepreneurs and help them succeed on their own terms," said John Caplan, head of North America B2B at Alibaba Group, in a statement Tuesday.

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