China's Alibaba to challenge eBay

ack Ma, founder of online business marketplace Alibaba, has his eye set on global expansion and is already posing a strong challenge to eBay, says The Independent.

In a symbol of China's growing economic and entrepreneurial clout, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, home to many of the US's hi-tech industries, travelled to the East China city of Hangzhou for a piece of the action, with a high-profile appearance with Ma to set the seal on the entrepreneur's rapid rise to global prominence.

Alibaba's online marketplace Taobao.com now enjoys more than 80% market share in China, and has more than 53 million users in 240 countries. Ma dominates China with 384 million users, and is now looking to expand his empire with a strong push into the fast-emerging economies of Russia, India and Brazil.

With 2 billion consumers now online and a quarter of which live in Europe, spending over the Internet has topped EUR550 billion in 2010, according to IMRWorld.org estimates, writes U Talk Marketing.

The 85% of the world's Internet population who are shopping online have brought a fundamental shift in the way consumer goods are being marketed, traded and distributed. These changes are forcing governments, retailers, carriers and infrastructure providers everywhere - and especially in Europe - to rethink business models, financial innovation and risk management.

While Europeans account for 24% of the world's online population, they spend more than the average, accounting for 35% of total online retailing by value, worth almost EUR200 billion this year.

An online business news outlet, TheBusinessDesk.com, has reached a readership milestone by securing more than 50 000 registered subscribers, states The Guardian.

The free-to-use service has three regional hubs: Yorkshire, the North West and the West Midlands

It was founded in 2007 by the former Yorkshire Post business editor David Parkin, and backed by private entrepreneurs. It added the North West hub in 2008, which is run by former Manchester Evening News business editor Chris Barry. The West Midlands hub came on line early this year with former Birmingham Post editor Marc Reeves at the helm.