Alipay, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the dominant e-commerce operator in China, has launched a service designed to make it easier for Chinese web shoppers to buy products from U.S. and European online retailers.

Launched under the umbrella of the PayPal-like Alipay online payment service, “ePass” combines Alipay’s cross-border foreign currency settlement with deliveries offered through the China Smart Logistics Network, which in China goes by the moniker Cainiao. (Alibaba owns 48% of the logistics company.) The ePass service also enables Western e-retailers to conduct digital marketing through the Chinese online ad network Alimama.

“Through ePass, U.S. and European merchants are able to give Chinese consumers who are comfortable with shopping online in English a way to purchase goods directly from retailers’ existing, stand-alone e-commerce web sites in their home markets,” says Jingming Li, president and chief architect for Alipay U.S., in a statement released by Alipay.

Chinese online shoppers using ePass pay for their orders in yuan and then have orders shipped to their homes via the Cainiao network of delivery companies. Consumers can use the Alipay Wallet mobile shopping app to make purchases. Merchants “can easily use our infrastructure to tap into the China market,” Li says. “They don’t have to worry about international shipping. They can just ship to a freight forwarder in their own home country, making it just as easy to sell to China as it is to sell in their core market.”

The ePass program marks the latest step Alibaba has taken to make it easier for online shoppers in China to buy from Western e-retailer sites. Earlier this year, for instance, the Chinese e-commerce operator struck a deal with U.S.-based e-commerce delivery service ShopRunner Inc. to reduce shipping costs to China for purchases on U.S. retailers’ web sites.

Alibaba launched last month its initial public offering in the United States The total value of Alibaba shares sold as part of the IPO reached $25 billion after underwriters exercised their options, making it the largest IPO in U.S history.