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Signing Ceremony of Chinese Commodity E-Distribution Center Project Held in Beijing
The signing ceremony of ECCDC (Chinese Commodity E-Distribution Center ) project between MRI and China Huawen Enterprises Development Corporation of the People¡¯s Daily was held in Beijing on 15 December 2000. The ceremony was attached and addressed by Zhu Xinmin, Vice President of the People¡¯s Daily, Xu Shuncheng, IT Director of MII (Ministry of Information Industry), and Richard Alston, Australian Minister of Communications, Information Technology and Arts. Further, officials from MOFTEC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Australian Ambassador to China also attended the ceremony. During the ceremony, the above Chinese officials confirmed that they would give their full support to the project.
The Chinese Commodity Distribution Center (CCDC), a subsidiary company of China Huawen Enterprises Development Corporation of the People¡¯s Daily, has received approval from MOFTEC in especially conducting export trade of Chinese commodities to the South Pacific Islands, and in promoting trade and economic cooperation between China and the South Pacific Islands. Over the years, CCDC, under the support and leadership of People¡¯s Daily and MOFTEC, has developed diverse business which always aims at the exchange of trade and economic ties between China and South Pacific Islands.
MRI of Australia is a joint venture between Dialog IT and Gateway Lawyers, a commercial firm that specializes in developing international trade and investment projects in China. Dialog IT is one of the leading IT companies in Australia and worldwide. It is the major shareholder of DSTC which specializes in providing such services as e-commerce solutions, web-based applications, knowledge management, collaborative computing environments, operation of large, major data centres and smart card technology.
In accordance with the cooperative agreement signed, China Huawen Enterprises Development Corporation of the People¡¯s Daily and MRI of Australia will jointly invest US$30 million. Upon China¡¯s WTO entry, the parties will establish ECCDC in accordance with the new regulations on telecommunications of the PRC and the relating rules on investments in China with foreign ownership. ECCDC will be providing value-added telecom businesses focusing on the B2B e-commerce sector in association with People's Daily Online People¡¯s Net.
ECCDC proposes to become the largest B2B service provider in China. A number of B2B trading e-hubs will also be established and operated over time. The first e-hub will address the needs of agricultural, department store and supermarket industries, followed by others gradually. At the same time, ECCDC proposes to build several support systems in Dalian, Henan, Chongqing, Shenzhen and Shanghai in China.
By 2004, the B2B e-commerce sector in the Asia Pacific region will generate more than US$1 trillion worth of transactions. After China enters WTO officially and as a result of it, ECCDC will, to a large extent, enable China to increase international trade opportunities, in particular in the field of agribusiness.
As the Chinese market continues to open, international cooperation within the IT industry has gradually become a worldwide trend. The ¡°ECCDC¡± cooperative project between China and Australia will explore into a successfully gateway in developing and complementing the existing B2B e-commerce system in China. The agreement between the parties symbolizes a crucial step of the cooperation. It is believed that under the support and assistance of the respective government of each party, ECCDC will be successfully established, and open up the latest, most efficient communications channel between the Chinese and international markets in the near future.
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