Chinese making fortunes out of ‘e-business’ trend

NEW DELHI - E-shopping is no more a “shelter” for Chinese youngsters to make their living, but is now one of the most lucrative business options.

He Hongwei, a college graduate living in central eastern China’s Zhejiang Province, began selling novelty toys on the Internet after failing to get a job. Five years on, he has grown into a billionaire and today is busy seeking employees to work in his own factory.

E-business has become an incubator for the newly rich who had not expected they could make their fortunes online. The number of e-shoppers has reached 142 million, or one-third of the nation’s total online population, and China’s largest Nasdaq-listed e-commerce company, some 77 million Chinese individuals and businesses have opened E-shops as of the end of this June, reports China Daily.

Retail sales at e-shops more than tripled between 2007 and 2009. Booming sales helped entrepreneurs with e-business start-ups live decent lives, as more than 1 million e-shops at Taobao.com, China’s largest online marketplace, earn profits of at least 2,000 yuan a month.

As their businesses grow larger, more shops reported profits of over 10 million yuan a year. (ANI)