Companies large and small, State-owned and private, are embracing a new way of doing e-commerce in China that they hope will revive flagging profits.
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As a result of central government dispensations to Ningbo in Zhejiang province, the city has opened a free trade zone and an Internet site that allows companies to import goods at a relatively low tax rate and sell them online.
One of the first to jump in was Ningbo Fubang Holding Group Co Ltd, a trader and manufacturer which is also involved in other areas.
Fubang's exports dived last year as many world economies continued to flounder. It had a net loss of 35 million CNY (5.6 million USD), having had net profit of 5.13 million CNY the year before.
Instead of just hoping for the best, Fubang decided to innovate and try importing overseas products by setting up Ningbo Fubang E-Commerce Development Co in September, just weeks before the Ningbo free trade zone opened.
"Starting in 2008 when the economic crisis hit the United States, European countries and developed countries elsewhere, external demand weakened," says Li Feng, secretary to the general manager of Fubang's e-commerce company.
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 Companies large and small, State-owned and private, are embracing a new way of doing e-commerce in China that they hope will revive flagging profits.
