Rosy Future for Sino-Foreign E-Commerce CooperationChina's electronic commerce has great development potential and Sino-foreign cooperation in this area has a bright future, according to government officials and IT experts attending an international e-commerce forum Friday.Song Ling, director of the Department for Information Promotion of China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII), said that China 's e-commerce has had considerable development over the past few years, but it is still lagging behind overseas counterparts. Cooperation with foreign companies will help narrow the gap in infrastructure, means of trading, network operating quality, technical support and other aspects. She said that China will actively participate in international dialogue in a bid to establish an e-commerce framework that can be generally accepted by the international community. Michelle O'Neill, deputy assistant secretary of the United States' Information Technology Industries, said that China is a very important market to the U.S. e-commerce industry, and the U.S. e-commerce industry has enjoyed years of close cooperation with MII. "I'm honored to say that I'm currently co-leading an e-commerce trade mission to China that includes leaders in the field of e- commerce technologies," she said. Yoshimitsu Hirai, an international relations group manager of the E-Commerce Promotion Council of Japan, said that many Japanese companies plan to carry out cooperation in B2B businesses with China and other Asian countries, some of which have already begun to look for partners in China. Deputy Director of Consumer Practice of Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore Paul Chia Khong Lai said that there are many areas in the e-commerce field for Singaporean and Chinese companies to seek cooperation. He said that e-commerce is a global market without geographical restriction and many Singapore companies have already entered the Chinese market. Singapore and Chinese companies should join hands to develop the market. He encouraged companies from both countries to cooperate and build relationships, business networks, confidence and trust. He also expressed the hope that Chinese companies will seize opportunities to work with Singapore-based companies that have established their presence in China. Steffen Myklebust, general manager of ECN Euro China Net, said that his company has been working with the Chinese government and multinational companies in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and some other places in China. Due to cultural diversities, he said, many differences exist between Chinese and Western companies in sales and marketing skills, which provided enough room for mutual cooperation. "E-commerce will give us a major opportunity in building relationships between Chinese and European companies and institutions. The new tools for sharing knowledge will be a great support to increase communication and understanding," he said. |
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