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Sparkice closes Web cafes, focuses on e-commerce
( 2002-08-02 09:48 ) (1 )

China's Internet pioneer Sparkice Inc on Wednesday closed all its Internet cafes and finished its transformation into an online trade facilitator.

Six years after Sparkice launched its first Internet cafe in China in November 1996, the Internet company has withdrawn from the business due to complicated reasons, according to Edward Zeng, president of Sparkice Inc.

When Sparkice began providing online business to business (B2B) trade services, shares in the Internet cafes continued to shrink. Zeng said all 14 Sparkice Internet cafes, 10 of which are in Beijing, will be closed.

Running an Internet cafe is no longer a pioneer making business with high profits as was just a few years ago, Zeng said. But online B2B commerce, the latest target of Sparkice, is encouraged by the government and could see a rosy future, he said.

Although Internet cafes, which provide high-speed Internet access and beverages, contributed to the popularity of the Internet, bad management and issues related to Web surfing has led to many cases of adolescent crime.

On June 16, a fire at a packed Internet cafe in Beijing killed 25 and injured 13, prompting nationwide checks and strict supervisions for such cafes.

In addition, with the popularization of computers and the Internet, more people tend to browse the net at home via high-speed devices using ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) or ISDN (integrated service digital network) networks. Most offices are also linked to the Internet.

Over 280,000 Chinese companies covering all industries were reached via Sparkice.com and 10,000 of them have passed Sparkice qualifications.

 
   
 
   

 

         
         
       
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