BuildingWebsiteNews - Censorship fails to stop internet - The Australian

He was the founder of the first internet outfit in China in 1995 and now runs Alibaba, an expanding online company that counts among its divisions China's version of eBay and the world's largest business-to-business website, which is set to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange for more than $1 billion. Mr Ma, 42, said there were 160 million internet users in China, which was now the fastest-growing market in the world for online commerce. Mr Ma said he had had no problems with the Chinese Government over what he put on his internet sites, which had been largely aimed at servicing small and medium-sized businesses, and also involved internet trading by consumers. Mr Ma, who has been coming to Australia since 1985 after making friends with an Australian tourist visiting his home town of Hangzhou, rejected suggestions the internet was slow in China. Mr Ma said the internet was proving a great boon to small business in China, where there was a lack of developed credit cards and other advanced systems for payments. Mr Ma said the internet was particularly effective for small business, which did not have the same financial resources as large companies and could use the net to reach potential customers around the world. read more

[Tags]internet, china, ma, mr, business, chinese, buildingwebsitenews[/Tags]