Information @age Hong Kong January 11, 2000
Sino-i.com and IBM to develop China e-business system -- By Samantha Chan
Sino-i.com, a provider of information services covering China, and IBM Greater China Group will partner to develop an e-business transaction platform to be integrated into Sino-i.com's ChinaEnterprise.com Chinese business-to-business portal.
ChinaEnterprise.com is a membership-based portal that connects overseas buyers to China's export business community via the Internet. The site currently charges an RMB3,000 annual membership fee for every business using its information services.
Currently the portal features an online China stock quote service and a Chinese enterprise database consisting of 600,000 listings. Complementing its existing offerings, the e-commerce system will allow the company to incorporate a new e-database product catalogue service that will allow Chinese businesses to display product catalogues including text descriptions, images and multimedia presentations online.
According to Yu Pun Hoi, Chairman and CEO of Sino-i.com, ChinaEnterprise.com offers the largest non-government run database service on the Web and is used by UK's Financial Times newspaper and Reuters.
As part of the deal, Sino-i.com and IBM will combine their expertise to localize and customize IBM's e-MarketPlace, an e-commerce system developed and used internally by IBM's China Procurement Center in Shenzhen for purchasing parts.
"Sino-i.com and IBM are committed to making ChinaEnterprise.com the prominent e-MarketPlace platform in Greater China and a successful showcase to the Chinese business community. Both companies will dedicate resources to the development and promotion of ChinaEnterpise.com's e-MarketPlace service to small- and medium-sized companies as well as identified pilot industries," said Yu.
In addition, ChinaEnterprise.com is planning a business matching service and a discussion forum for buyers and sellers to bargain online. The site will primarily use Letters of Credit, the preferred payment method in China, however Sino-i.com is in discussions with IBM to implement a credit card e-payment system in the future.
ChineseEnterprise.com's e-database service is scheduled to launch in Q3 this year and the company plans to charge 0.5 to 3 percent per transaction depending on the industry. In its first phase, Sino-i.com will target automobile parts, electronics and building material industries. |