The service has started working in test mode and should become fully operational from mid-October.

“In Russia Tmall will be launched within the AliExpress platform. In fact, this marks the brand's debut outside China,” one of the sources said.

AliExpress is one of the most popular online shops in Russia with an estimated 15.6 million customers each month.

According to the people familiar with the matter, Tmall will operate in Russia as a separate online shop and a marketplace (or e-platform), uniting an unlimited number of sellers.

Goods will be delivered from the warehouses of Alibaba's partners in Russia, and not from Chinese storage facilities (cross-border trade), as with AliExpress.

"We started localizing AliExpress in Russia two years ago, launching the marketplace ‘Mall’ within the platform. The upgrade to Tmall means a better quality of services due to a more careful selection of goods, a single warehouse, and logistics based on courier delivery, along with delivery to special points of issue,” said Director of Development of AliExpress in Russia and CIS Mark Zavadsky.

He added that Tmall will offer all kinds of goods, ranging from electronics and household appliances to clothing and children's goods. Russian and international brands, as well as some favorite Chinese brands in Russia, will be available to customers.

According to statistics, Tmall’s website is the 14th most visited, with more than 14,000 international brands registered.

In 2015, Russia and China started an online e-commerce platform called TradeEase aimed at increasing cross-border trade between the two countries.