Tmall Global, the cross-border e-commerce site of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, has launched a new service to allow Chinese tourists to prepay for their duty-free purchases online before going on vacation.

The company has signed agreements with two major duty-free groups in South Korea and Thailand, meaning outbound Chinese travelers will be able to buy duty-free goods from Tmall Global and pick up their purchases at airports in the two countries before heading back to China.

Under the arrangement, outbound tourists can buy items from the Tmall stores of South Korea's The Shilla Duty Free and Thailand's King Power, and pay for them online in renminbi.