TNRG / TIPS in right place at right time as article below indicates China Internet and companies involved are exploding!
People's Republic of China and US Business Network to Promote Import/Export E-Commerce with MeetChina.com Portal Site
Exclusive Agreements to Accelerate Privatization Drive
With International Business-to-Business Services on the Internet
BEIJING and SAN FRANCISCO, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- US Business Network, Inc. today announced that it has signed exclusive co-branding and revenue-sharing arrangements with six key governmental ministries in the People's Republic of China to promote import and export growth through a new e-commerce portal called "MeetChina.com." Designed to help these ministries meet the task of privatization, MeetChina.com will connect the rest of the world to the vast resources of China.
The first vertical market to be represented by MeetChina.com will be the burgeoning Chinese electronics industry, now governed by the Ministry of Information (MII). This important governmental body, recently formed in a merger between the Ministry of Postal and Telecom and the Ministry of Electronics, has extensive authority over Internet, telecommunications, information technology and electronics industries in China.
"We expect MeetChina.com to play a significant role in boosting our growing export economy by allowing Chinese manufacturers to deal with foreign buyers directly," said Wu Bao Gui, CTO of the Ministry of Information Industry (MII).
A special press event and forum inaugurating the launch of China's first major business-to-business e-commerce effort will be held in Beijing on April 28 by MII and US Business Network, Inc. Also participating will be one of the key investors in the new portal, Pacific Technology Venture Fund-China, Inc. -- the venture capital subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading IT media, research and exposition company -- and Critical Path, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPTH), one of the world's leading Internet messaging technology companies. The MeetChina.com Web site plans to offer the resources of over 15,000 Chinese electronics companies by the end of July. Other key Chinese industries are scheduled to go online with MeetChina.com later this year.
This revolutionary promotion center and electronic gateway will allow foreign mass merchandisers to have rapid and direct access to multiple categories of Chinese electronics products and companies. MeetChina.com will initially host, design and promote the Web sites of Chinese companies; as the promotion center expands its activities this year, US Business Network and its partner ministries in the Chinese government will share revenue through transaction brokerage fees, advertising sales and membership dues. The site is being designed by Total Creative/Skyrocket of San Francisco, headed by renowned media specialists April Minnich and Doug Humphreys.
"China ranks as one of the world's largest importing and exporting countries -- and the second largest exporter to the US," noted Ken Leonard, Chairman and CEO of US Business Network, Inc. "As China's 300,000 import and export companies prepare to go online within the next three years, our arrangements with partner ministries in the PRC will make MeetChina.com the foundation of vertical business-to-business channels critical to international trade."
According to all parties involved, the officially sanctioned position of US Business Network in creating China's first major government sponsored business-to-business Internet portal has been made possible through status as a WOFE, or wholly owned foreign enterprise. WOFE status is granted by Chinese governmental ministries to a single, pioneering foreign company to help develop an industry critical to the economic well-being of the country. MeetChina.com's two e-commerce centers of MeetChina.com will be located in the Northern California headquarters of US Business Network and in Vancouver, Canada. The company's Chinese subsidiary located in Beijing, USA Business Network, will make arrangements with ministries and associated companies in China.
E-commerce enabling technologies to be provided by MeetChina.com will include: A "key word" search engine, forward and reverse auctions, supplier indices, electronic storefronts, financial information and product analysis. Visitors will be also able to engage in real-time discussions with representatives of the Chinese government and other industry professionals, access industry information on over 4,000,000 Chinese businesses, view virtual trade shows and find information on direct investment opportunities in China.
Other online and off-line services of MeetChina.com will include market research, company matching, trade show arrangements, business travel services and negotiation consulting. As the year progresses, US Business Network and its Chinese subsidiary will leverage the vertical markets and resources of the Ministry of Light Industry, the Ministry of Chemical Industry, the Ministry of Textile Industry, the Ministry of Film, Broadcast & Radio and the National China Bureau of the UN Technology Information Promotion System (TIPS).
About US Business Network, Inc.
US Business Network and its Chinese subsidiary, USA Business Network, was founded in early 1998 to help pioneer the nascent Internet industry in China. Both parent company and subsidiary have been granted the exclusive status of a "wholly owned foreign enterprise" (WOFE) to operate and help develop Internet services in China. This status has allowed the company and its subsidiary to sign exclusive agreements with six key Federal Ministries in Beijing, consolidating its position as the officially sanctioned Web hosting and e-commerce provider to Chinese industry. In the third quarter of 1998, IDG's venture capital subsidiary, Pacific Technology Venture Fund-China, Inc., invested in the company and joined the board of directors.
About the Ministry of Information Industry of the People's Republic of China(MII)
MII was recently formed by the merger of the Ministry of Post & Telecom and the Ministry of Electronics. It has extensive authority over telecommunications, Internet, information technology and electronics industries in China.
About Pacific Technology Venture Fund-China, Inc. (PTV-China)
Pacific Technology Venture Fund-China, Inc. (PTV-China) was launched to meet the needs of entrepreneurial professionals to provide them with guidance, capital, technical, marketing and management know-how, a network of international business connections and access to world markets. Established in 1992, PTV-China was the first U.S. venture capital fund targeted exclusively for investments in the PRC. With over US$100 million in capital commitment, it is also one of the largest venture capital firms in China. PTV-China is managed jointly by International Data Group Inc. (IDG), headquartered in Boston, the leading supplier of information services to the information technology (IT) industry, and the State Science and Technology Commission of China (SSTC), the government agency responsible for setting national policy for research and development.
SOURCE US Business Network, Inc.
CO: US Business Network, Inc., MeetChina.com Critical Path, Inc., MeetChina.com Critical Path, Inc
T A P has received 700K shares of TNRG and 1 mil shares of TIPS from the company for services provided for a period of 1 year. For a complete write-up on TNRG and TIPS other Turn Around Picks and free membership go to T A P profile for url. |
