eBay is taking new steps into the Chinese market by setting up a filiale (subsidiary company) in China in the Fujian Pilot Free Trade Zone, one of four free trade zones in China (the others are Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdon). The eBay Fujian company is eBay’s first cooperation platform with the Chinese government and is eBay’s second subsidiary company in China following Shanghai.
It’s over a decade since eBay virtually shut up shop in China and retreated from the territory leaving it to Alibaba’s TaoBao but since then China has changed and so has eBay. Chinese ecommerce has evolved and they’re much more open to trading with the rest of the world and eBay is a very different platform to the auction site is started out as.
eBay China also announced that it has teamed up with Linca Industrial (Fujian) Group Co., Ltd. to build a cross-border ecommerce industrial park in Fuzhou, capital of east China’s Fujian Province. The park will be the first industrial park with a full industry chain of cross-border e-commerce in China. It is the outcome of a proposal signed by Fuzhou City government, the Department of Commerce of Fujian Province and eBay in April 2017.
“Fujian sellers have always been active on eBay and offering a rich variety of products with quality services. The landing of the industrial park showed our firm faith in the huge potential of cross-border e-commerce in Fujian. We hope we can work together with local government to bring more companies and products from Fujian on eBay, and further on help them reach more consumers across the globe.”
– John Lin, chief executive officer of eBay Greater China
An eBay cross-border ecommerce institute was also established on the same day. Jointly organized by the Fujian Pilot Free Trade Zone, eBay and Fujian Business University, the institute features two majors – e-commerce and international trade, along with other optional courses. Qualified graduates will be granted a certificate from eBay and offered opportunities to work at excellent e-commerce companies in Fujian. The institute is estimated to educate 2,000 to 3,000 e-commerce professionals for Fujian every year.
Also planned is the eBay-Fujian Cross-Border E-commerce Summit which will be held at the Fuzhou Strait International Conference and Exhibition Center in March 2018.
