Assessment of international trade e-Marketplaces in China: Outlook of Chinese small and medium exporting enterprises

Abstract

China has become the "world factory". In year 2007, China stood as one of the largest economy in the world. Since China started its economic reform in the 1978, its export increased significantly and the country has become more and more important to the global economy. As Chinese Smalls and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) represent a large part of Chinese economy and China's export, it's important to take a close look to the role they play in international trade and the problems they are facing. The purpose of this research is to define to what extent existing e-Marketplaces in China are able to respond to problems perceived by Chinese exporting SMEs' executives. A review of background information of Chinese international trade, the status of Chinese SMEs and Chinese export process, was conducted to identify the potential problems of SMEs in their export business are exposed. Based on these results, field research was conducted to identify the problems perceived by Chinese exporting SMEs' executives. Following the analysis of the data collected from the field research, a comparative analysis of China's existing e-Marketplaces was conducted. Various criteria where defined in order to evaluate Chinese existing e-Marketplaces and their capacity to resolve the problems identified by SMEs' executives. Finally, guidelines for a business plan that allow defining what should e-Marketplaces do to help Chinese SMEs solve their problems for exporting is presented.