China's First Online Steel Business SuccessfulChinese companies November 26 made a deal on the sale of 1,400 tons of steel through online bidding, the first time the Internet was employed for the sale of major capital goods in China.The Tianjin Branch of the Xiaogan Lianyi Materials Co., Ltd. and the North China Branch of the Wuhan Steel Company obtained three contracts to supply steel to a railway bridge project in Sunday's on-line bidding. "It is convenient, efficient, and most of all, it can save a lot of marketing costs while greatly enlarge our business opportunity," said Qian Fujian, manager of the Xiaogan Lianyi's Tianjin Branch. "We are satisfied with the new buying method, because it is efficient and cheap," said Wu Jinliang, manager with the Railway Bridge Section under the Ministry of Railways. According to Qi Na, general manager of Asia21st.com, the sponsor of the bidding, construction materials, like steel and cement, are the most suitable for on-line bidding, because their "price" is usually the main concern for buyers. Some 30 steel producers, providers and consumers took part in the bidding, saying that they are "strongly interested" in this new business method. Mike Atkin, chief executive officer of Asia21st.com, said that Sunday's on-line bidding marks an important step for China's e-commerce development. "All people here will be pioneers of a new, e-commerce business trend." According to the CEO, who is also an expert in economic laws in the United States, Asia21st.com will help introduce more traditional Chinese enterprises to e-commerce so as to promote international competitiveness to face the challenges after China's entry into the World Trade Organization. "I am very confident about the future of China's e-commerce. I hope we can start making profit in less than 15 months," He said. |
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