[photopress:china_automarke.jpg,full,alignright]In 2003 eBay took control of Eachnet which was then China’s leading auction site. Later eBay invested $100 million in the country. This has not made it the top auction house. It runs a very distant second place now to Taobao, a Hangzhou company run by Jack Ma, the founder and CEO of Alibaba.com, in which Yahoo owns 40 percent.
One report in the Chinese press has eBay cutting its losses and selling to Tom.com, the Hong Kong-listed company owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing.
On the Chinese Internet is the rumor that that eBay is talking with Tencent, the successful internet messaging company based in Shenzhen. Tencent operates QQ, the IM service that is ubiquitous among Chinese students.
Microsoft has tried to get a foothold in the market but QQ still dominates and Tencent has been using QQ as a way to break into other businesses such as online gaming.
Perhaps eBay will form a joint venture. Microsoft has formed a joint venture with Shanghai Alliance, an investment company. Yahoo teamed up with Jack Ma and Alibaba in August 2005.
Source: Business Week
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