Who owns Cainiao?
Cainiao is owned by Alibaba (Hong Kong, NYSE: BABA).[1]
Evidence: Alibaba Group Holding Limited Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-05-20, SEC EDGAR, 20 May 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Alibaba Group Holding Limited verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇭🇰 Hong Kong, Hong Kong
- Origin
- 🇨🇳 China, Hangzhou
- Category
- Travel & transport › Parcel & freight logistics
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: BABA
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Cainiao
Cainiao is an e-commerce logistics network that Alibaba's FY2026 annual report on Form 20-F defines as Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Limited, a Cayman Islands company incorporated on 20 May 2015 and a consolidated subsidiary of Alibaba. Its own site describes it as a global e-commerce logistics leader, with news releases datelined Hangzhou.
How often Alibaba names Cainiao in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named less often than it was three years earlier.
Ownership timeline of Cainiao
Where Cainiao sits in Alibaba
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Alibaba ownership tree →
See the full Alibaba brand portfolio (14) →
Other brands owned by Alibaba
Alibaba controls 14 brands on Brandtree.
Other brands in parcel & freight logistics, and who owns them
The 221 brands in parcel & freight logistics on Brandtree belong to 181 owners. The largest is Radiant Logistics, with 5.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Adcom Express | Radiant Logistics | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Forward Air | Forward Air | 🇺🇸 United States |
| ABF Freight | ArcBest | 🇺🇸 United States |
| C.H. Robinson | C.H. Robinson | 🇺🇸 United States |
| FedEx Express | FedEx | 🇺🇸 United States |
| GLS | IDS | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| InPost | InPost | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg |
| Wilhelmsen Port Services | Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding | 🇳🇴 Norway |
About the owner: Alibaba
Alibaba is a publicly listed company headquartered in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, founded in 1999. Brandtree records 14 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: BABA.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a Cayman Islands holding company that files annual reports on Form 20-F; the business address on its SEC record is in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, although its consumer platforms are run from China. Its own site says Alibaba.com, launched in 1999, was the first business of the group. It organises its businesses into China e-commerce, international digital commerce, cloud intelligence and other units. Lazada, Daraz, Ele.me and Alibaba Cloud are not listed as brands here because their country of origin is not stated on the group page or the product is not a consumer brand.
🇨🇳 Cainiao and other Chinese brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 319 brands that began in China. 39 of them (12%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Cainiao among them.
- 7 Days — Jin Jiang Hotels 🇨🇳
- 9 Air — Juneyao Airlines 🇨🇳
- Air China — Air China 🇨🇳
- Air China Cargo — CNAHC 🇨🇳
- Beibu Gulf Airlines — Hainan Airlines Holding 🇨🇳
- Beijing Capital International Airport — Beijing Capital International Airport Co. 🇨🇳
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Cainiao?
The parent company of Cainiao is Alibaba, a publicly listed company headquartered in Hong Kong.
Is Cainiao Chinese or Hong Kong?
Cainiao originated in China, but it is owned today by Alibaba, which is headquartered in Hong Kong. So Cainiao is a Chinese-origin brand under Hong Kong ownership.
Is Cainiao still owned by Alibaba?
Yes. As of 5 October 2026, Cainiao is still owned by Alibaba. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Alibaba Group Holding Limited Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-05-20 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 20-F, published 20 May 2026; retrieved 4 October 2026.
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