QUITO, Sept. 26 -- The Second International Forum for E-Commerce with China kicked off Thursday in the southwest Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil, to boost online trade with China's market.

The event organized by the Ecuador-China Chamber of Commerce gathered producers from different sectors interested in using Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to sell their goods to Chinese consumers.

"China is a country of opportunities and it is up to us to board and take advantage of the development train. It is time to do big business with the Asian giant," the chamber's president, Jose Antonio Hidalgo, told participants at the opening of the event.

China represents a market of 1.4 billion people, or nearly a fifth of the global population, he noted.

"China's middle class continues to grow rapidly and it is increasingly interested in better quality products, like those from Ecuador," said Hidalgo.

The forum features international experts' discussions on how to place and promote products on China's online platforms.

Representatives of Chinese importers, including some from the Alibaba Group, also attended the forum.