The trade volume of China’s online shopping market grew 137.2% to 122 billion yuan ($17.84 billion) last year, the highest growth rate since 2006, according to a report by Analysys International.

The Beijing-based firm said the growth rate shows Chinese Internet users’ increased spending on online shopping as well as traditional dealers’ embrace of the Internet. It said ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) of China’s C2C market increased from 520 yuan in 2007 to 760 yuan (US$111) last year.

China had 298 million Internet users by last year, representing 41.9% growth from the previous year and nearly 25% are online shoppers, according to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). Mobile Web surfers surged 113% to hit 117.6 million users in 2008.

The vast market opportunities have attracted many traditional retailers from Adidas to Dell, especially products and services catering to the below-40s,  to open online shops on websites such as perennial Chinese favorite Taobao.com

Transaction volume of China’s C2C shopping market hit 31.17 billion yuan in the fourth quarter of 2008, up 144 % year-on-year, and 22% from the third quarter. The number of goods listed online reached 181.7 million in the fourth quarter, 14% higher than the previous quarter.

Analysys International said goods delivery was significantly disrupted last year during the Sichuan earthquake and the Beijing Olympic Games. But that will change this year as China announced its 4-trillion-yuan economic stimulus plan, which is expected to boost construction on infrastructure such as roads and railways.

Youa.com, launched two months ago by Chinese search engine Baidu.com, has already commanded a 3.8% market share in the number of listed goods online.

Source – ChinaDaily