India 2nd largest market; forms 10% of users: Alibaba.com

New Delhi, Sept 3 (UNI) Alibaba.com, China's biggest business-to -business website, today said India has become its second largest international market after the US with 5,40,000 registered users.

''India is now our second largest international market after the US, and members from the country make up close to 10 per cent of all registered users on our English-language marketplace,'' The website, which connects small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with buyers and sellers globally, added over one lakh users from India in the second quarter alone, representing a sequential growth rate of 26 per cent.

Gauging the importance of the Indian market, Alibaba.com had launched a dedicated India channel last year, which was its first country-specific channel.

The India channel caters specifically to local suppliers and provides an easy-to-use and efficient platform for international buyers to source from India.

The company has also launched 'Export-to-China' service in August 2008 to enable Indian SMEs to sell direct to China's growing number of buyers. It provides Indian businesses with a Chinese-language online storefront on Alibaba.com's China marketplace, which has an active community of nearly 27 million buyers and suppliers.

UNI SR AK RAI1956