Saturday, June 13, 2009

CHINA: Alibaba.com: Green Commerce Continues



In class,Prof Jeremy guided us pretty well on thinking more broader and deeper about online dynamic applications like E-commence, online auction,real estate broker,dating,social networking etc. Triggered with the comprehensive "picture" addressed by him, I think, besides personal social and entertainment needs, how should we come up with the indivudial social responsibility of protecting environment by using internet tools toward "Green" products. For you enrichment, I hope the article could give you a sense of what's going on in China about the green commerce and trigger you thinking about how to embrace the new energy ecological system global trend.


June 5, 2009, 7:31 am

"Despite the downturn, online trade in environmentally friendly products is holding up well", said CEO of Alibaba.com, the Chinese e-commerce and business-to-business giant. Over the past two years, the company reports that its Web site has seen a steady growth of searches for alternative energy resources like solar and wind power, electric cars, fuels and organic products. Solar-powered energy and organic products are the fastest-growing green sectors, increasing 71 percent and 68 percent year-on-year, respectively, in the first quarter of 2009, according to the company. Solar lights are among the most popular green items sold online, as countries in Europe, and parts of the United States begin to replace traditional streetlights with sun-powered alternatives. “Despite the downturn, online trade in environmentally friendly products is holding up well,” said David Wei, the chief executive of Alibaba.com. “This is because going green not only saves money, but it also creates money, especially as more entrepreneurs develop innovative products to support growing global demand.” Some members of Alibaba.com’s trading community agree.

“Climate change is having a positive impact on our business. Our sales have been growing by 30 to 40 percent over the past three years thanks to strong demand for green products from customers in the U.S., Europe, Middle East and Southeast Asia,” said Xiao Benpeng, the international trade manager for a company based in Hubei that specializes in high-tech solar energy products, and a member of Alibaba.com. China itself has set goals of generating 16 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, and it has set aside about $30 billion of its economic stimulus package ofr the energy conversation and ecological engineering. Alibaba.com executives say they believe that these large-scale green projects will translate into multiple e-commerce opportunities.

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