Alibaba predicts e-commerce transactions to triple

Alibaba Group, China’s largest e-commerce site, said Saturday that transactions hosted by its main shopping websites will likely triple to RMB3 trillion (US$473 billion) over the next five to seven years, The Wall Street Journal reported. Shopping sites Taobao and Tmall are expected to host RMB1 trillion in transactions this year, more than double the RMB400 billion posted in 2010. Alibaba accounts for about 85% of China’s online shopping market. Online retail sales in China are projected to triple to more than US$360 billion by 2015 as the country’s retail market continues to expand despite a slowdown in the overall economic growth. Of 16 million parcels being delivered in China each day, more than 10 million are items purchased off Taobao and Tmall, Zeng Ming, Alibaba’s chief strategy officer, said at a media briefing. “E-commerce is one of few bright spots in China’s economy now.”