Numerous Business Opportunities in the Internet Market 　　Amazon Company was founded in 1995 and has become the biggest Internet bookstore in three years, with 4.5 million customers and total sales volume of US$540 million. 　　Though Amazon Company loses millions of dollars per year and cannot make profit until the year 2001, its share price rose from US$9 in May 1997 to US$300 by the end of 1998, eight times that of the biggest bookstore in the United States which has more than 1000 branches. 　　The investors believe in the unlimited potential of the Internet market. With the help of the Internet, Amazon Company provides the customers with 3.1 million titles of books without expensive stores and many employees. The books in stock of the Amazon Company are less than 2 percent compared with the biggest bookstore in the United States. The customers pay Amazon Company for the books by credit cards, but Amazon gives money to the publisher 46 days thereafter, thus its capital turnover is much better than the traditional bookstores and keeps an annual sales growth rate of 306 percent. 　　Virtual shopping centers will be a part of people's life, according to the Business Weekly. At present, there are about 100 million people who purchase goods through the Internet, but the figure will reach 320 million in the year 2002. 　　 Economicnews 1999-01-14 Page7 Full Story in Chinese