Alibaba.com Ltd., operator of China' s largest online-commerce site for businesses, said its paying members in the third quarter exceeded 1 million for the first time, as shown in its unaudited financial figures for the quarter, released on Thursday.
Alibaba boasts 56.7 million registered users, 8.2 million storefronts and over 1 million paying members, up by 25 percent, 35 percent and 30 percent respectively, year on year, according to the report.
"We specifically stepped up our efforts in enforcing a trusted and safe environment in our marketplace by eliminating paying members who committed fraud, as well as those who have a high probability to commit fraud. In this quarter, we terminated about 1,200 Gold Supplier members," said David Wei, chief executive officer of Alibaba.com., as posted on its website.
Further, Alibaba's third quarter profit rose by 55 percent to 366.1 million yuan (55.3 million U.S. dollars) from 236 million yuan one year earlier, Alibaba said.
"Despite the uncertainty and mixed signals in the global economic environment, we are gratified to see our financial growth remained strong during this quarter," said David Wei.
