Jake’s Take: When Xiaohongshu (RedNote) Met Alibaba

Alibaba and Xiaohongshu (known as Rednote in English) have just taken a major step toward tighter integration between content and commerce.

The new partnership enables merchants to embed product links from their Taobao and Tmall stores directly into Xiaohongshu posts. When users tap those links, they’re redirected to the Taobao app to complete their purchase—creating a smooth, app-to-app path from discovery to transaction.

This is a smart move for both sides. Alibaba gets access to one of China’s most influential content ecosystems. Xiaohongshu enhances its creator and merchant tools, while maintaining focus on community and inspiration.

It also comes at an interesting time—Xiaohongshu has been steadily rolling out its own native e-commerce capabilities. But this collaboration shows that interoperability still matters. The goal is to give users and merchants more options, not fewer.

For brands, it means a more direct line from top-funnel content to bottom-funnel conversion. One of the notable features under the new partnership is that there are joint merchant accounts and performance dashboards—so merchants can track the journey from Xiaohongshu content to their stores. Being able to attribute specific completed orders to specific Xiaohongshu campaigns is a massive step to help brands optimize ad spend.

For users, this partnership creates a more seamless way to act on Xiaohongshu inspiration.

And for China’s e-commerce industry, another sign that it’s becoming more integrated—and more user-centric.