As the festival atmosphere is in the air, many websites have reduced their transaction fees to attract more online consumers, and China's online shopping has seen surging development over the course of one year.

In 2004, online trade volume was about US$420 million, while just over the first three quarters of this year, more than US$1 billion worth of transactions had taken place over the internet, more than double that of last year.

Lu Weixing from Taobao net, one of the leading online shopping portals in China, says the increasing population of online shoppers shows great potential for web-based shopping. "Since the third quarter of 2005, the number of Internet users in China had reached more than 100 million. More than 20 percent of them have purchased something at least once via the Internet. Nearly 15 million of them are regular online shoppers."

The comparatively low price and large variety of goods are two major reasons to lure people to online shops in China.

But problems still remain in the collection of tax revenue and the safeguarding of credibility for web-based purchases.

An official with the China E-Commerce Association Alamusi analyses the characteristics of online shopping that make such dangers more likely. "Since the transaction of online goods does not take place via registered shopping avenues, collecting taxes is difficult. Most of the registered names of online traders are not real ones, which makes online fraud easier. Therefore, real-name registration might be a solution to better protect the rights of online shoppers."

It is urged that a body of policies pertaining to online payment, credit, safety certifications and logistics be issued soon.

(CRI December 28, 2005)