Alibaba.com Launches New China TrustPass Product for China

Alibaba.com Limited (HKSE:1688), the world's leading B2B e-commerce company, today announced the launch of a new product called "China TrustPass for Individuals" on its Chinese-language online marketplace, which connects suppliers and buyers trading domestically in China. Until now, Alibaba.com's China TrustPass membership had only been available to corporate users.

Similar to the corporate version, entrepreneurs need to pass a third-party authentication and verification process before they become a China TrustPass member. As part of this process applicants need to provide their identity card and bank information. Once they become an authorized China TrustPass member, Alibaba.com will maintain an online trust rating for individuals to build confidence and credibility with potential buyers.

Alibaba.com launched its original China TrustPass membership in 2002 and as of March 31, 2008 had more than 280,000 paying members. Alibaba.com's China marketplace has close to 25 million registered users and is growing at over 36% year-on-year. The price of the new product will be RMB2,300 per year, slightly lower than the corporate version which currently sells at RMB2,800.

"Starting up a new business and trading over the Internet has never been easier and more affordable for entrepreneurs," said David Wei, CEO of Alibaba.com. "Alibaba.com has always been a pioneer of trust and safety on the Internet and we believe that a reliable trust system for individuals as well as corporate e-commerce users is essential. China TrustPass for Individuals will help entrepreneurs build credibility and open up new business opportunities."

He continued, "The launch of this new product is in line with our strategy to further expand and monetize our fast growing China marketplace. We believe there is strong demand for this product in China as seen by the positive reception it has received during the pre-launch sales period." China TrustPass for Individuals was pre-launched on May 10, 2008 and has already signed up thousands of members.

China TrustPass for Individuals will help more entrepreneurs in China launch and develop their business by significantly lowering the start-up costs and entry barriers to running an online storefront and finding potential buyers. With more than 42 million small and medium-size enterprises, China already has one of the world's biggest communities of entrepreneurs.

AOL planning to invade China

A RUMOUR circulating in Chinese media has it that America On Line (AOL) has plans to move into China's online market.

Everyone's least-favourite ISP has reportedly been looking for recruits via local headhunters. The rumours are that AOL plans to set up an R&D centre in Beijing and will be focusing on mobile communications, web technology research and online publishing.

AOL launched websites in Taiwan and Hong Kong earlier this week, so it's too soon to tell yet whether the walled garden Internet company is attracting very many Chinese wibblers. Word in the Chinese media is that AOL is very late entering the Chinese Internet market and might have difficulty selling its US-centric brand to Chinese surfers.

US based Internet brands have had rather mixed success in China. The Chinese search engine Baidu is far more popular there than Google. Microsoft's MSN and its instant messaging service lag behind China's QQ. Yahoo does have some subscribers in China, but it pays Alibaba to manage its Chinese web presence.

AOL bought an interest in the second-tier Chinese website China.com nearly ten years ago but didn't get very far with it and eventually abandoned the project.It's hard to imagine what China might have done to deserve invasion by AOL, which is widely abhorred by savvy Internet users everywhere else. However, it's no secret that parent company Time Warner would like to flog AOL to the first sucker it can find, so perhaps the proposed move of AOL into China is a way to groom the dog a bit prior to sale.

New benchmark for China currency

China domestic manufacturers who settle their business deals with customers in US dollars are forced to bite the bullet as the dollar continues to slump.

Alibaba posted a story, revealing the damage that a stronger yuan would have on Chinese exporters.

China Daily (中国日报), a China state-run English-language newspaper, also reported that rising costs in labor, materials, energy and yuan appreciation attributed to the closure of many factories in the Pearl River Delta.

Last Thursday, the dollar ended trading at 6.9916 yuan on the over-the-counter market, after dipping to an all-time low of 6.9907.

These are hard times for us,” said Wei Yaoting, a textile trader in Shanghai that exports to the United States.

A typical U.S. order, received July and delivered in November last year, was not paid for until February this year, said Wei, manager of Shanghai HTC Holdings Import & Export Co. Over those seven months, the dollar-denominated payment slumped.

“We end up swallowing the losses,” he said.

“The more exports, the bigger the losses. We just break even,” Wei said. “We’re even considering giving up selling to foreign markets that trade in U.S. dollars.”
In your mind, what’s the biggest challenge that Chinese small and medium manufacturers are facing now?

Alibaba.com gives UK route to China

For years, the glut of cheap imports flowing from the huge manufacturing zones of southern China on to shop shelves across the world has resembled an irreversible tide.

The result? An escalating trade deficit which has come to underline China's role as the West's factory floor.

Now, the largest internet company in China is attempting to help swing the pendulum back in the other direction.

Alibaba.com, the e-commerce firm headed by Jack Ma, the man dubbed China's "internet godfather", is to launch an online platform which will encourage the owners of British small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to export their products to the world's most populous country.

Called Export to China, Export to the World, the new service, which will be launched in the second half of this year, will target the 268,000 Britons who are already members of Alibaba.com.

The website is currently recruiting new members in this country at a rate of 2,000 every week.

David Wei, chief executive of Alibaba.com and a former executive at B&Q in China, said that the new platform would appeal to British SMEs operating in industries in which Britain retained a prominent international role.

"In high-technology engineering products, where the UK is still very competitive, and in areas such as patents and intellectual property, there is a major opportunity for UK SMEs to export to China," said Wei.

Alibaba.com is the Hong Kong-listed unit of Alibaba Group, which also includes one of China's biggest consumer websites and a substantial online auction business.

Wei said the company continued to keep an open mind about stock market listings for other divisions of the group.

"We are keeping all options on the table," said Wei.

Last week, Alibaba.com reported its maiden results as a public company, unveiling a 200 per cent rise in operating profit to RMB804m.

The Chinese company may play a significant role in the ongoing takeover battle between Microsoft and Yahoo!, which owns a 39 per cent stake in Alibaba Group.

Ma is understood to have appointed Deutsche Bank to advise him on the situation and is in talks with potential investors who may be interested in co-funding a buyout of the Yahoo! stake.
On Friday, Ma was one of a number of senior Chinese businessmen who attended a discussion in London with government ministers about the future of the internet.

US Website Moves To Traditional Media, Chinese Companies Already There

A Techcrunch story about wedding site The Knot buying a magazine company wondered "if we are going to see more Web-buy-print deals". While this may be a new phenomenon in the US, severalChinese companies have used this model. Wedding preparation and home decoration community site Liba.com has a very successful online storefront model, but has also been publishing a magazine since December 2006 and acquired another in November of last year. Another company, Co-op Land Corporation, also targeting the home decoration crowd, launched its website www.E-jjj.com in 2000 and has been publishing magazines since 2001. Co-op Land also plans to launch a TV channel in 2008 (See PE's interview with Co-op Land here).

From the broader perspective, almost all companies looking to make some money in China have to use the online/offline model. Job search company 51job (Nasdaq: JOBS), still makes over half its revenue from its offline recruitment newspaper. Travel booking services providers Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and eLong (LONG) are essentially call center businesses that also happen to have (pretty bad) websites. All the game companies rely on offline sales channels-such as Internet cafes-to get their prepaid game cards in the hands of gamers. Baidu and Alibaba have thousands of salespeople blanketing small and medium enterprises (SME) hawking their marketing platforms. And a lot of "e-commerce" transactions are completed using the cash on delivery payment method.

China's B2B transaction volume up 25.5% in 2007, survey finds

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Business-to-business (B2B) transactions hit 1,250 billion yuan (168.9 billion U.S. dollars) in China last year, up 25.5 percent from 2006, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

The "Netguide 2008" survey, which provides a wrap-up of 2007, polled more than 300 web sites and about 200 enterprises, with 50,786 interviewees around the country.

The survey, conducted by the Data Center of the China Internet (DCCI), reported that the newly-listed Alibaba.com was first in the e-commerce marketplace and accounted for about 70 percent of market share.

Alibaba.com is one of China's fastest-growing Internet companies. Its registered members soared to 24.6 million in 2007 from 6 million in 2004.Paying members increased to 255,000 by June 2007 from 77,000 in 2004.

Alibaba.com, which reportedly has the world's biggest base of online suppliers, raised 1.5 billion U.S dollars in its initial public offering (IPO) last November -- the second-largest Internet offering in history after Google's IPO in 2004.

Other e-biz dotcoms on the top list are netsun.com, globalsources.com, cn.made-in-china.com and hc360.com, according to the survey.

The Netguide 2008 also forecasts that China's B2B trade volume will exceed 1,620 billion yuan (218.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2008 and 2,130 billion yuan (287.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2009.

Over 10,000 Buyers Pre-registered for New China Sourcing Fairs: Baby & Children's Products and Fashion Accessories in Shanghai

Product Safety First: Fairs to Feature Free Seminars on Quality Control and Design Requirements of Children's Products
December 12, 2007: 01:00 AM EST

SHANGHAI, China, Dec. 12 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Over 10,000 buyers, including global players such as Coles Myer, Gap, H & M, Li & Fung, Sears, Target and Tommy Hilfiger, have pre-registered to attend Global Sources' first China Sourcing Fairs: Baby & Children's Products and Fashion Accessories in Shanghai ( http://www.chinasourcingfair.com ). Domestic buyers including Hua Lian GMS Shopping Centre, Ren Ren Le Group and TVSN have also signed up to attend the inaugural shows, set for Dec. 12-14, 2007 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China. Visitors will be able to see 440 booths from various countries and regions including mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines and India.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030303/LNM011LOGO-b )
Global Sources' Executive Director, Sarah Benecke, said: "We're returning to Shanghai after two years to meet the growing demand for China suppliers, from both international and domestic buyers. The Fairs will provide a focus for quality suppliers to meet directly with local buyers, as well as the hundreds of international buying organizations, which have offices in this dynamic city. Suppliers can also sell direct to global visitors who come to Shanghai to source from Asia."
As well as providing a face-to-face business platform for buyers and suppliers, the Shanghai Fairs will feature free seminars on quality control.

Benecke said: "We have invited quality control experts Bureau Veritas to provide critical information for both manufacturers and buyers who make decisions on the design of children's products. This is part of Global Sources' objective to provide the most relevant and topical information on quality issues to our customers, so that we continue to attract the best buyers and suppliers in the business."

With a growing customer focus on the health and safety of imported products, Bureau Veritas will also present information on the costume jewelry testing requirements of the US and European markets.

Market Potential is Enormous in Shanghai and Worldwide

Shanghai is fast emerging as mainland China's sourcing capital for consumer products. There are over 330 multinational buying offices based in Shanghai, plus more than 3,000 buying offices serving the needs of the booming domestic market.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, over 16 million babies were born in mainland China in 2006. And with 27 percent of mainland China's population of 1.3 billion being under 14 years of age, there is a huge need for baby and children's products.

Mainland China-made fashion accessories are in demand throughout the world. The China Customs Database indicates that in 2006, mainland China's exports of fashion jewelry increased by 25 percent to US$6.9 billion. Mainland China is the largest producing and exporting country for shoes in the world. In the first half of 2007, China exported 4.4 billion pairs of shoes, a year-on-year growth of 12%, valued at US$12 billion.

China Sourcing Fair: Baby & Children's Products and Fashion Accessories Dates, Times and Future Events

The Shanghai Fairs will open Dec. 12-14 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Currently, a pavilion within China Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Home Products, Baby & Children's Products is scheduled to expand and launch under its own brand in Hong Kong on Apr. 20-23 and Oct. 20-23, 2008 at AsiaWorld-Expo.

In 2008, the Fashion Accessories event is scheduled to take place five times.

"We're extending our successful China Sourcing Fair: Fashion Accessories brand around the world -- taking it to where the volume buyers are located," Benecke said: "As well as our April and October events in Hong Kong, the Fair is also scheduled for June 2008 in Dubai and twice in mainland China next year."

Show to Feature Fashion Parades and Free Personalized Advice for Buyers Value-added services at the show include:

• Fashion Parades showcasing the latest trends will be a daily feature at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
• Country and Regional Pavilions focus on products from Asia and emerging mainland China supply centers.
• Ask the Expert Program offers free personalized, professional advice to buyers' import questions. It is a unique new service of one-on-one consultations with industry specialists.
• Special Buyers' Lounges offer free Internet access, refreshments and sourcing information.
  

Discount Travel Rates Available

Special hotel rates are available through China Sourcing Fair travel partners listed at http://www.chinasourcingfair.com . Buyers who pre-register are also entitled to receive free admission, a free Show Guide and Venue Maps.

About Global Sources

Global Sources is a leading business-to-business (B2B) media company and a primary facilitator of two-way trade with Greater China. The core business is facilitating trade from Greater China to the world, using a wide range of English-language media. The other key business segment facilitates trade from the world to Greater China using Chinese-language media.

The company provides sourcing information to volume buyers and integrated marketing services to suppliers. It helps a community of over 647,000 active buyers source more profitably from complex overseas supply markets. With the goal of providing the most effective ways possible to advertise, market and sell, Global Sources enables suppliers to sell to hard-to-reach buyers in over 230 countries.

The company offers the most extensive range of media and export marketing services in the industries it serves. It delivers information on 2 million products and more than 160,000 suppliers annually through 14 online marketplaces, 13 monthly magazines, over 100 sourcing research reports and nine specialized trade shows which run 22 times a year across seven cities.
Suppliers receive more than 23 million sales leads annually from buyers through Global Sources Online ( http://www.globalsources.com ) alone.

Global Sources has been facilitating global trade for 36 years. In mainland China it has over 2,000 team members in 44 locations, and a community of over 1 million registered online users and magazine readers for Chinese-language media.

International and Domestic Franchise Opportunities at Franchising China Exhibition

2007-12-13
PRNewswire

HONG KONG, Dec. 13 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Global Sources' 10th Annual Franchising China Conference & Exhibition ( http://www.franchisechina.com/ ) wrapped up its tour of China recently, attracting 24,274 potential franchisees to its exhibitions in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing -- up 12 percent from 2006.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030303/LNM011LOGO-b )

One exhibitor, Ines Vedovelli, president of Gustomenta, a Beijing-based Italian gelato franchisor, said: "The visitors are really interested in franchising. They're not just coming to gather information. We went to a franchising show two weeks ago and it was a completely different situation. This show is much better."
Around 100 international and local franchisors exhibited at Franchising China, offering business opportunities in retail, education, hotels, laundry services, food & beverage, beauty & health, automotive, business services and furniture/home products.

Hotel franchisors were notably popular at this year's event, thanks to the growing demand in China for affordable business and leisure accommodations. Five key players exhibited at the show, including international brands Super 8 and Holiday Inn Express, and domestic brands Greentree Inns, Home Inn and JinJiang Inn.

Jin Zhibo, General Manager of Greentree Inns, said: "We've gotten a lot of benefit from this show -- not just in terms of meeting customers -- but also in building awareness for our brand. As an exhibitor for the last six years, I can say that the quality of brands exhibiting at this year's show was very high."

Other well-known exhibitors at the show included international franchisors Subway, Baja Fresh, Gloria Jean's Coffee, Bread Talk, Bob Jane T-Marts, Athlete's Foot, Office 1 and Meyer Cookware, and leading China brands Vanke, Iceason (Bright Food Group), ILSA Laundry, DIO Coffee and Tayohya.

The Franchising China Conference & Exhibition is scheduled to host its 11th annual show in November 2008, with many exhibitors have already re-booked booth space for the event.
Further reports about the show are scheduled to be released on the Franchising China website at http://www.franchisechina.com/ . Franchisors interested in exhibiting at the 2008 event should contact jge@globalsources.com.