Chinese mainland market will become eBay's biggest market within 10 to 15 years, Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay Inc., predicted here Tuesday.

Whitman said at a press conference that eBay's investment in mainland is still losing money, but the company think mainland has tremendous long-term potential and it want to do everything it can to maintain its No. One position in mainland's e-commerce market.

She predicted that 10 to 15 years from now on, the mainland market will replace US market to be its biggest market.

She also highlighted how e-commerce in Hong Kong and other Asian markets has accelerated cross border trade, using eBay's experience to illustrate how the internet is reshaping the relationship between buyers and sellers and augmenting supply chains.

She said that in Hong Kong, eBay's cross border trade grew 67 percent year on year in 2003, and e-commerce in Hong Kong is forecast to grow at twice the global rate over the next four years.

Founded in September 1995, eBay is the world's online marketplace. Now, it has 94.9 million registered users worldwide who trade in more than 45,000 categories.
 
(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2004)