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E-Commerce In China

1. Introduction

E-Commerce which encompasses Business to Business (B2B) and Business
to Consumer (B2C) is the use of internet for conducting business. It
has become one of the most significant economic trends in the new
millennium. Although China is just starting to embrace this
phenomenon, it is no doubt that it is becoming one of the fastest
growing e-commerce markets in the world. According to International
Data Corporation (IDC), overall e-commerce value in China is expected
to rise from US$1.7 million in 1997 to US$3.8 billion by the end of
2003 (Bath 2000).

This paper aims to give a clear analysis of the opportunities and
challenges in regards to the implementation of e-commerce in China. In
doing so, the paper will focus on both China�s national environment as
well as its national policies. The analysis is done by utilizing
qualitative data (conference papers, seminar papers and online
journals) and statistical data from reliable secondary sources (United
Nations, China Internet Network Information Center and International
Telecommunications Union).

2. National Environment

The fundamental e-commerce infrastructures examined in this section
include demographics, technological infrastructure, economic and
financial resources, business culture and consumer preferences.

2.1 Demographics

As the world�s most populous nation with approximately 1.3 billion
people, it is no doubt that China has a huge market potential for
e-commerce. The large absolute gross domestic product of US$1305.9
million seems encouraging. Apart from that, the main indicators for
e-commerce imply a rapid growth[1]. These indicators include number of
internet users, personal computers as well as telephone lines and
cellular subscribers. The number of internet users stand at 59.1
million which is approximately 2.8 times the size of the total
Australian population. However, when compared to the total Chinese
population, these numbers...