Internet Company Focuses on Enterprise E-commerce, Western DevelopmentAlibaba.com Corporation, a major on-line commercial service provider, announced April 19 that it will focus on providing e-commerce solutions for domestic enterprises and developing China's western regions.Ma Yun, chief executive officer of the Hong Kong-based company, said that Alibaba's main development strategy is to help domestic small and medium-sized enterprises adjust to e-commerce before China enters the World Trade Organization (WTO), and build e- commerce platforms for the development of China's west. Yu Weixiang, a multinational trade researcher with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), noted that e- commerce will become form of trade in the 21st century. "Under the WTO framework, price competition will no longer be the decisive factor for enterprises. They must depend on e-commerce to minimize costs and improve efficiency," she said. In the country's western areas where infrastructure is under- developed and access to information limited, e-commerce will be the easiest way for enterprises, especially, small and medium- sized ones to communicate with the rest of the world, said Ma. Earlier this year, Alibaba clinched a 20-million-dollar deal with the Japan-based investment company Softbank. Alibaba claimed it has over 180,000 customers worldwide, with new a 1,000 new customers increasing by the day. |
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