Alibaba began construction Friday for its new 6.4 billion yuan head offices in Beijing, moving a step closer to fulfilling its “dual-headquarters” strategy devised in 2016, the company said in a WeChat post. The e-commerce giant already has a headquarters in Hangzhou, where its founder Jack Ma grew up and set up the company in 1999.

The new office complex occupies an area of about 470,000 square meters in Zhongguancun’s Chaoyangyuan district, which is home to about 35 regional headquarters and R&D centers of the world’s top companies. The construction of the new offices is scheduled to complete in 2024.

Explaining why Alibaba selected Beijing as the location of the new headquarters in China, CEO Daniel Zhang said it was because of the capital’s improving business environment and its strategic bet on the digital economy, the Beijing Daily newspaper reported.

Since Alibaba unveiled its dual-HQ strategy in 2016, Alibaba has gradually moved some of its core businesses including tech, finance and e-commerce to the Chinese capital, including its Damo Academy, which develops quantum computing and machine learning.

Currently, Alibaba has more than 13,000 employees in Beijing, two-thirds of whom are tech developers.

Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)

Related: Alibaba’s New Chief Makes More Management Changes