The marketing and technological power of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is working with President Xi Jinping's signature global economic vision to bring smaller firms into global commerce on a huge scale.

The budding marriage of one of China's commerce powerhouses and the Belt and Road Initiative is bolstering China's ability to expand global trade for small businesses.

Alibaba is marching into North America by cohosting a trade fair with small merchants from Canada and China in September, Canadian Ambassador to China John McCallum said on Sunday on the sidelines of the 2017 China Green Companies Summit in Henan province.