The Internet may be the battleground for competitors in business but its players have learned an important lesson to stay afloat in the electronic world: cooperation. Such can be said of China e-tail rivals, Amazon.cn and Taobao.com. Only recently, Amazon entered into an arrangement with Alipay, a Taobao sister company, for the use of Alipay’s online payment system in the Amazon website.

The deal is an acknowledgement of the wide acceptance of Alipay’s facilities among mainland...

The interest of big investors in online education has made it a new focus for investment in the China’s education industry.

Students in underdeveloped and remote parts of the country are gaining the most from online education, but in addition online universities are now offering working people and students who have failed entrance exams an opportunity of training and education. The Ministry of Education has set up 2,027 off-campus learning centers (stations) around China, offering...

Online sales of books have consistently ranked high in mainland China. It seems that there are a lot of bookworms in China and most of them prefer to buy their books online.

It has been observed that online book sales have overtaken those made in traditional book stores. The thirst for knowledge and reading material may be linked to active censorship and self regulation of major Western websites in China. Strong online book sales also reflect the profile of the average online buyer...

Alibaba.com, the largest homegrown Chinese e-commerce website, has a new competitor in the making. Baidu, the name behind China’s most popular search engine, out-performing the world famous Google, has launched a beta test of its e-commerce platform.

Following its announcement late last year, Baidu has entered selected areas in China such as Beijing, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Wuhan, to launch its modified e-commerce platform. Positioning itself as Alibaba’s competitor, Baidu...

The latest figures for online spending are astounding. It makes you wonder what these Chinese online spenders are buying on the Internet these days. In a country that is known for mass production and low selling prices, it is interesting to note that books are the second most purchased products online, next to electronic devices.

The jump in book sales is closely linked to the profile of the average Chinese online buyer. An Internet user who buys online is young and affluent. ...