British retailer Marks & Spencer has opened a Chinese e-commerce site, as part of its strategy to expand its worldwide online business.

The site complements its 14 brick-and-mortar stores in the Chinese mainland, a chain founded in 2008.

Besides its own e-commerce site, M&S also opened an online space with Chinese online retailer Tmall.com, which is owned by Alibaba. It will be joining other international retailers which have also opened at Tmall including The North Face, GStar and Ralph Lauren Footwear.

“E-commerce plays a fundamental role in our vision of becoming a leading international, multi-channel retailer,” the company said in a statement.

M&S plans to operate e-commerce in 10 international markets by May 2013.