Springboard for tapping potential

Despite the global financial crisis and the economic downturn, China's e-commerce market continues to grow. Out of 1 billion Internet users worldwide, about 180 million - over one in six of the world's online population - live in China. China has outpaced the United States, where Internet usage has almost reached its saturation point.In 2010, China is expected to have more than 250 million Internet users.

E-commerce is also gaining from this boom in China.According to an International Data Corp report from the beginning of 2009, online trade volume reached 1.95 trillion yuan in 2008 and grew in spite of the economic crisis. By 2010, it is expected to reach 2.11 trillion yuan in total trade.

The Alibaba Group, China's e-commerce giant, has been one of the greatest beneficiaries of this development during the financial crisis. In July 2009, registered users surpassed 200 million and 500,000 paying users.Alibaba has about 70 percent market share and serves corporations, mainly small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).