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BIZCHINA / Top Biz News

Project to help rural areas get connected

By Xiao Wang (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-12-28 09:56

China has launched a pilot project to facilitate the development of
e-commerce in the country's rural areas.

The project, backed by the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and the
China Electronic Commerce Association (CECA), will first focus on North
China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Wang Ping, deputy
secretary-general of the CECA said at a launch ceremony in Beijing.

"We are aiming to spread the benefits of China's informatization to
people who live in China's less-developed areas," said Wang, noting that
the CECA will establish a unified e-commerce platform on which companies
from across the country will be able to seek business opportunities.

Beijing Jinkou E-commerce Company Ltd, one of the largest
business-to-customer (B2C) companies in China, was chosen to undertake
the project.

According to iResearch, a domestic consulting firm, the turnover of
China's B2C market last year reached 5.6 billion yuan (US$710 million),
an increase of 33 per cent year-on-year. The firm estimated that the
market would enjoy an average annual growth rate of 52 per cent until
2010, when the market turnover is expected to hit 46 billion yuan (US$5.8
billion).

However, experts say the rapid growth was primarily driven by the booming
B2C market in China's big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
People who live in China's inland and rural areas have little access to
e-commerce facilities, partly due to the lack of the Internet services,
personal computers and adequate technological know-how.

But Li Shihong, president of Bejing Jinkou E-Commerce Company Ltd, said
he believed that e-commerce should not only be the privilege of city
dwellers. "In China's large rural areas, e-commerce business could
achieve the same success."

Earlier this year, Li's company signed an agreement with local
governments in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, under
which the company will help to promote Guangxi's local specialities on
the Internet.

"Our co-operation with local governments in Guangxi has been a great
success," said Li. "We are going to adopt this co-operation model in
other rural areas across the country," he added.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)

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