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Shanghai Enterprises to Go Online
Industrial enterprises in Shanghai will be able to compete better in global markets if a plan to put them online is successful.
All major enterprises will use the Internet as part of their strategy for expansion in the next five years, it was announced Thursday.
And 80 percent of small and medium-sized companies will open websites for electronic business by 2005, according to the plan.
If the plan is successful, experts believe Shanghai's industries will be able to compete with major global players such as General Motors and Sony.
Pressure has been mounting because China's pending entry into the World Trade Organization will expose domestic enterprises to foreign competition.
However, industrial officials at a conference warned that many local enterprises were far from ready to embrace the new technology.
"Local enterprises are still sidelining the Internet. They have not fully prepared for the transition to a Web-based business," said Jiang Shangzhou, executive vice-chairman of the Shanghai Economic Commission, the city's industrial regulator.
To start off its Internet campaign, the organization launched a portal, www.shindustry.com, yesterday to introduce tens of thousands of industrial enterprises to the worldwide market.
Huang Qifan, the commi-ssion's chief, urged industrial players to take advantage of the portal as a stepping stone to help them carry out e-business.
The value of online transactions among the industrial community is expected to reach 40 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion) by 2002, representing 5 percent of the total industrial sales. The figure is expected to rise to 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion) by 2005, accounting for 10 per cent of annual sales.
Shanghai's industrial enterprises experienced difficulties following the Asian financial crisis in 1997 that hit exports badly. On top of this, many were trying to restructure, which forced some to lay off workers and left them with debts.
But enterprises are now beginning to recover after the three-year restructuring has put them in a better shape financially and operationally.
Big and medium-sized enterprises running in the red were reduced to 18.3 percent of the total last year, the second consecutive year which the figure was below 20 percent, indicating a strong rebound.
Source: China Daily
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