Jack Ma: "We did not beat eBay in the USA ... yet."

The Guardian considers the long line of western failures to crack the Chinese market. Jack Ma, whose Alibaba.com bought Yahoo's Chinese operation last year, blames corporate culture for the failure: "Professional managers are making their bosses in the US happy, not the Chinese users."

Demanding instant success in China is pointless: "A lot of people assume that because of money, technology and branding, it will be a success. But the market can't be bought. You have to build little by little to get into the market - it's about people, and you need patience."

123 million Chinese people are online, the largest number in any country outside America, but just 10% of the population: it's obvious why western firms would want to cash in on such an enormous potential market. Ma's words ought to be a timely reminder that global trade can run in both directions.

Whitman "very committed to Paypal in China"

Meg Whitman has remained tight-lipped about the future of Paypal in China after Tuesday's revelations about the future of the auction platform. Refusing to comment on the rumoured tie-up with UMPay, an online payments vehicle owned by China Mobile and bank card provider China Unionpay, Whitman did acknowledge that coming legislation may make partnership unavoidable:

"We will see what the right thing to do is here in the People's Republic of China, I am aware of some of the pending government regulation around the need to find a local partner for a financial-services product," Whitman said.

"But we continue to invest in PayPal and the cross-border trade is very strong and the local trade is very strong, so we will see what happens over the next weeks and months, but we are very committed to PayPal in China."

China : confirmed!

eBay's Chinese site carries the long-awaited announcement about their partnership with Tom Group:

Respected user:

Since June, 2003 the eBay note capital easy interest, the eBay easy interest always has been the China leading electronic commerce website, provides for the domestic buyer and a seller domestic trade and the foreign trade platform. In the past several years, your service development regarding us were count for much. Along with the Chinese market in the electronic commerce potential unceasing growth, eBay unceasingly is seeking the new opportunity to impel the on-line transaction to tread a new stair.

Today, we very happily to everybody announced eBay and Tom on-line already reached the agreement, establishes a joint venture, marches into the new growth stage for the Chinese fast growth electronic commerce and the motion commerce to lay the foundation.

Through the conformity both sides superiority, eBay Yi Qu and TOM on-line will collaborate in 2007 to make specially the brand-new transaction platform which will have custom-made for the Chinese market. The new transaction platform will take to the domestic buyer and seller are more on-line and the motion opportunity. In after the new transaction platform the line, you are invited to shift to the new platform. Before this, you certainly cannot come under the influence in the eBay Yi Qu transaction.

The new platform will manage by the local team, provides the better user experience, will let individual user and the small business users can gather in this platform carries on the transaction.

EBay will continue in China to carry on the service to expand, between promotion domestic seller and global buyer transaction. From now on we also will be able to have part of staffs to continue in China to support the transnational trade development.

We understood this future the transaction will have the certain influence to you, we will be making a brand-new on-line transaction platform, the future several months we can inform everybody newest progress as necessary. Will thank everybody the transaction and the hope continues from now on in ours platform in ours platform the transaction.

(Translation by Babelfish, but you get the idea!)

Interesting to see the emphasis being put in "you'll still be able to trade internationally, in fact it'll get even easier". Sellers in the rest of the world, whose fees have paid for eBay's Chinese antics and now appear to have paid Tom Group for their involvement in the new venture, might not feel so reassured.

"The worst deal ever in Chinese history"?

The source of recent rumours about eBay's activities in China has been quoted as "an insider". Now the email sent by that insider, allegedly an eBay Eachnet employee, has apparently been published.

EBay now abandons China and us, the loyal workers.
I am one of the many disgruntled Eachnet employee. I have suffered through the incompetence of Ebay leaders for many years. I admit I am greedy. I stay for money. But Ebay has screwed up our Company and in China.

Meg Whitman is Ebay Mao Zedong. No one dare tell her the truth. ... This deal will just put her down in history as China's worst businesswoman ever.

Copies of press releases alleged to be for release this week follow, giving details of a 49:51 deal with Tom Group to develop the Chinese auction site, and of Paypal's 33% stake in a new payments venture with UMPay, a leader in mobile payments in China.

Even The Wall Street Journal is now reporting this story; here's a more accessible and upbeat version from AP; it's going to be an interesting week, one way or another.

Forbes reports on eBay China and Tom Group

The rumour about eBay China selling Paypal Beibao to the Tom Group has now made it as far as Forbes. Whether that makes it any more likely to be true, of course, remains to be seen.

Chinese whispers

More rumours about eBay China: today's version says that Eachnet, Paypal and Kijiji are to be split up. The source is apparently an eBay insider. eBay will keep Eachnet, the auction platform, while Kijiji, a free classified ads site, will be run independently. No eBay China story would be complete without the involvement of Tom Group, who here are rumoured to be about to receive a proportion of Paypal's Chinese operation.

Both eBay and Tom Group have, as ever, refused to comment.

Changes announced in China

eBay yesterday announced the appointment of Dr. Daniel Lee as General Manager for their China Development Center in Shanghai. Most recently having served as Chief Technology Officer for Yahoo, Dr. Lee will be overseeing the expansion of the CDC, developing various projects for the global eBay platform.

Does this indicate eBay's longer term commitment to their Chinese operations in general? We think predictions that they're about to pull out altogether are probably premature.

It does, however, leave us wondering about the other changes in eBay's top ranks. German sources (in English) are still reporting Philipp Justus' elevation to eBay HQ, but there seems to be a distinct lack of news coming out of San José at the moment.

eBay to sell Chinese unit?

Internet auctioneer eBay Inc may sell its Chinese eBay Eachnet unit to Tom Group in exchange for shares of the media group. These rumours have been going on for nearly two months now, but slowly, some concrete information about the deal seems to be emerging. We watch with interest.