Shanghai ranks No.1 in e-commerce among all Chinese cities, thanks to a high Internet penetration rate, developed banking system and good credit mechanism, a research firm under the Ministry of Information Industry said yesterday.

Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen picked up the next three spots on the list complied CCID Consulting Co.

The rating criteria included macro conditions such as a city's economy, educational system and information-technology infrastructure and industry measures including online payments, logistics and security.

The survey involved some 20,000 respondents in 50 cities nationwide.

"With government support, Shanghai's IT infrastructure construction is ahead of the other cities, but Beijing and Guangzhou are more competitive in e-commerce applications and talent training," said Chang Yanjie, a CCID analyst.

Annual revenue from Shanghai's e-commerce industry totals 77.2 billion yuan (US$9.53 billion), compared with 69.2 billion yuan in Beijing and 59.7 billion yuan in Guangzhou.

Shanghai government has launched favorable tax policies, established a special support fund and implemented an online credit system to boost its e-commerce.

The Credit Information Service Co., for instance, has established a database that holds information on 5 million residents and 600,000 enterprises.

Shanghai's per-capita gross domestic product has surpassed US$3,000, giving the city the ability to develop an effective bank card industry, analysts said.

EBay, the world's No.1 online auction Website, has set up its Chinese headquarters in Shanghai. The company plans to invest US$100 million in the Chinese market this year.

In other measures, the e-commerce talent supply index in Shanghai was rated by CCID at 9.93 out 10, compared with 10 in Guangzhou and 8.63 in Beijing.

(Shanghai Daily November 29, 2005)