According to lekutian webpage, recruitment started from July 29, and last until August 24. Lekutian web will be officially launched on June 9 this year, and accept the general registration from general merchants. Lekutian official said, the online business registration and telephone recruitment are proceeding smoothly.

Japnese Rakuten was established in 1997 which is the pioneer and leader of global e-commerce B2B2C model. With Baidu Rakuten launched lekutian targeting to be super big Chinese online shopping mall. According to the investment handbook, businesses in cigarettes amd liquor are not allowed to register currently.

Data show that China’s online shopping market is in rapid growth in recent years, and transactions in 2009 amounted to 250 billion yuan, with a growth rate of 93.7%. Experts predict the field is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan in 2013, and number of users who shop online will reach 66% same as the rate in developed countries.

Earlier on May 10, Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma, Masayoshi, chairman of SOFTBANK Group announced cooperation with Yahoo Japan, fully opened the platform of China and Japan online shopping.

Rakuten, which has been trying to expand its operations overseas, said the joint venture would aim for the No. 1 spot among China’s online shopping malls.

Baidu already has its own e-commerce platform called Youa, which competes with China’s largest online retailer Taobao.

Rakuten said it would take a 51 percent stake in the venture, with Baidu to hold the rest. Total investment in the venture would be about 4.3 billion yen ($48.2 million) over three years, it said in a statement.

The Japanese company said the joint venture plans to start the service sometime late this year, pending approval from local authorities. The name of the service has not been decided.

Japanese bricks-and-mortar retailers like Seven & I Holdings, Aeon Co Ltd and Uniqlo are aggressively opening stores in China.

Source : Konaxis