China's online transactions are expected to reach 1 trillion
yuan (US$124.9 billion) this year, a sharp rise from last year's
700 billion yuan (US$87.4 billion), said a report released
yesterday.
China's e-commerce transaction volume has grown by 50-60 percent
over the past couple of years and is expected to maintain fast
growth for several years to come, said the report released by China
Center for Information Industry Development Consulting Co Ltd (CCID
Consulting).
The number of Chinese netizens has surpassed 110 million and
more than 40 million personal computers have access to broadband.
"It means China's infrastructure is ready for a boom in
e-commerce," said Chi Congbing, analyst with CCID Consulting.
Small and medium-sized companies will soon make up the majority
of companies conducting e-business, she said.
Statistics with CCID Consulting show that 99 percent of China's
31 million companies are small and medium-sized, yet only 800,000
of them made deals over the Internet.
Chi believed they will begin to use e-commerce over the next
couple of years, Chi said.
According to the report, over 3 million small and medium-sized
companies will choose online transactions and their investment in
e-commerce will rise by 35 percent every year to 100 billion yuan
(US$12.49 billion)?in 2010.
Despite the great potential, CCID Consulting President Huang
Yong warned that China's e-commerce still faces challenges stemming
from a lack of policies and a credit system.
(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2006)