E-commerce giant Alibaba is slashing prices of wine imports to China by offering direct sales to retailers, according to media reports Wednesday.

Using a business to business (B2B) model, Alibaba subsidiary 1688.com is connecting exporters in Spain to retailers in China, Liu Fei, a department manager at 1688.com was quoted as saying on Yicai.com.

The company's cross-border business plan will ease business between countries, improve efficiency and reduce the cost of imports, including wine, said Liu.

A bottle of wine for 10 euros (68.54 yuan) in Spain can cost more than 240 yuan in China after timely, costly import and transport procedures. The products often move from exporters, general agents, regional agencies and wholesalers before reaching retailers. Each handler will normally raise the price by 15 percent before handing the wine down, plus the costs of duty and logistics.

With the B2B platform of 1688.com, a 10-euro bottle of wine in Spain could be sold in China at the price of 116 yuan, less than a half of the price imported through normal channels, said Liu. Endi