Costco (COST), the membership warehouse chain that sells enormous amounts of just about everything, is opening an online store in China through Alibaba Group's (BABA) Tmall online marketplace.

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The move, which is the company's first foray into China, should be a boost for Costco, which has been looking to reverse slowing sales in the U.S. It will be the first time Costco's products will be available to consumers in mainland China.

Costco will open an online flagship store on Tmall, which is China's largest third-party platform for brands and retailers. This will allow Costco to establish a presence in China without actually having physical operations there.

Costco's online store will provide a range of products including food and healthcare product listings, as well as Costco's private-label Kirkland Signature products.

"This important partnership will help give Chinese consumers a better shopping experience, and will enable us to better support the expansion of cross-border retail sales of consumer goods into China," said Daniel Zhang, Alibaba's chief operating office.

Costco is hoping to capitalize on China's increasing appetite for imported goods. "Costco sees tremendous growth opportunities in China," said Jim Murphy, Costco's executive vice president. "Our Tmall Global flagship store will give Chinese online shoppers a channel to purchase directly from Costco."

But not all products found at Costco will be available to Chinese shoppers. The company said it will "carefully select" the most suitable products and brands for the Chinese consumer market.

Costco already operates e-commerce websites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico, but will have to play catch-up in China to competitor WalMart's Sam's Club. The first Sam's Club in China opened up back in 1996 in Shenzhen, and today there are a total of 10 throughout the country.

TagsCostco, Walmart, Sam's Club, Tmall