State Postal Bureau (China)eyes e-commerce
Postal authorities at the State Postal Bureau
(SPB) announced on Jan. 22 that they are preparing an ambitious
expansion into a number of e-commerce businesses for 2001.
China’s post offices delivered 7 billion pieces of mail in 2000,
reversing a four-year decline, reports the Jan. 24 Guangming Ribao
(Guangming Daily).
The bureau is expected to roll out an online shopping service in
some cities and provide mail-order services for rural residents.
Most importantly, they plan to combine e-commerce with delivery
services, greatly enhancing the mail-order business.
Just like other international postal services, the SPB will launch
its own international mail-order service, international
mail-advertising service, international insurance service and
foreign-exchange service in certain developed cities.
The SPB will roll out a national online shopping business and
provide e-postal, telephone banking and access service provider
(ASP) business in 2001, the story said.
The bureau will also set up Internet service provider systems in
Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong province to expand paid-information
services, telephony messaging services and online malls from their
current status as regional offerings to full-fledged national
services.
Remit, they must admit
Officials have also discussed the launch of a nationwide electronic
remittance service in the second half of the year in provincial
capitals and developed cities. Such a system would help develop the
logistic needs for business-to-business or business-to-consumer
(b-to-c) businesses, the story said.
The SPB reported that operational revenues for 2000 were up 14
percent over the previous year to 42.4 billion renminbi (US$5.13
billion). Debt totaled Rmb 3 billion (US$362.76 million) as of the
end of 2000, compared with a Rmb 18 billion (US$2.18 billion) in
1998 when SPB separated from telecommunication authorities.
Postal savings accounts attracted Rmb 456 billion (US$55.14 billion)
in household savings during 2000, up 20 percent over a year earlier,
accounting for 7 percent of the nation’s total.
The SPB targets operational revenues at Rmb 47 billion for 2001 and
plans to convert current losses to profits.
An official from the SPB said that the bureau will concentrate on
business-mail services during 2001, aiming to boost growth by 50
percent. In addition, SPB will target saving services in rural areas
and accelerate express-delivery services in large cities seeking a
greater share of the urban, regional and international markets, the
story said.
Copyright 2001 China Online. Source : World Reporter (Trade Mark)
CHINA ONLINE, 31st January 2001
