China's Internet shopping, though constituting less than one
percent of the country's total retail sales, is taking off fast, as
55 million of China's 210 million Internet users have tried the
shopping mode, said an industry report.
Transactions via Internet topped 59.4 billion yuan ($8 billion)
in China in 2007, with the per-capita spending surpassing 1,080
yuan ($146), according to the report jointly made by China Internet
Research Center (or iResearch) and taobao.com, China's largest
online shopping portal.
The iResearch's annual report forecast that online sales would
be increasing by leaps and bounds in the next few years.
"Revenues of the Internet shopping would exceed 1 trillion yuan
before 2012, when the Internet would handle?five to?eight
percent of China's retail sales," the report says.
China's commercial hub of Shanghai saw the fastest growth in
Internet shopping, which was followed by Guangdong, Zhejiang,
Jiangsu provinces and Beijing, according to the report.
Transactions via taobao.com achieved 43.3 billion yuan ($5.8
billion) in 2007, equivalent to the 2006 revenue of China's biggest
retail enterprise, Hualian Group, says the report.
(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2008)
