E-commerce trade in China in 2009 exceeded $527 billion

Over 100 million Internet users, or more than a quarter of China s 384 million online population, shop online, a government white paper on the Internet released Tuesday said. E-commerce trade volume in 2009 exceeded 3.6 trillion yuan in value, or $527 billion, the document said, and online retailing is expanding quickly, and its market is being gradually regulated.

Specialized e-commerce services are also taking shape to support the growth, with systems like digital authentication, e-payment and logistics gradually being formed, it said.

Quoting findings from a survey, the paper said the number of businesses using e-commerce in China is also on a steady increase with over half of large enterprises in the country having established e-commerce systems.

In January, Japan s largest Internet mall operator Rakuten Inc announced a joint venture to launch an online mall in China with Baidu Inc and said it expected business-to-consumer sales in China to grow sharply.

The two companies are investing 4.3 billion yen over three years in the joint venture that will be owned 51% by Rakuten and 49% by Baidu, China s top Internet search engine. The Internet mall is expected to be launched in the second half of this year.

Yahoo Japan Corp has also tied up with China s major online retailer Taobao to tap China s fast-growing online shopping business.