(Yicai Global) July 11 -- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. [NYSE:BABA] representatives were invited to attend a July 11 United Nations meeting to discuss how the internet has transformed rural areas and introduce Cun.taobao.com's development model to countries' delegates and officials from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), Ce.cn reported.

Alibaba's rural e-commerce site Cun.taobao.com has gained widespread attention. The platform has a good business model, Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank, said during a visit to Alibaba on July 9. He said he hopes to witness the successful operation of Cun.taobao.com's rural warehouses.

Cun.taobao.com covers more than 30,000 villages, of which 2,700 are indigent villages of national-level focus, in nearly 700 counties in 29 provinces across China. Some 103 and 95 of the counties are indigent ones of national-level and provincial-level focus, respectively. The site has over 60,000 partners and shopping assistants that provide services for villagers.

Heads and partners of Cun.taobao.com were previously invited by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to talk with UN staff and officials from India and several African countries including Egypt at UNCTAD's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

Cun.taobao.com has been invited to communicate with relevant UN departments on follow-up matters, Alibaba said. The parties have engaged in an effective long-term dialog and have reached consensuses on several projects, Alibaba said. The company said it will announce pertinent news at the right time.