Nearly 200,000 new e-shops have opened monthly on Taobao.com since September 2008, according to figures released by the website. That means over 5,000 new e-shop owners every day, 60 percent up from the first half of 2008.

The new shop owners consist of a variety of people. There are white-collar workers who have lost their jobs amid the economic downturn, university graduates yet to find jobs, and even some college students.

The proportion of white-collar workers and middle and high level office workers has increased from 1 percent to 3 percent. Most of them live in coastal economic zones that depend on the export business and have been hit hard by the financial crisis.

But it’s not easy for new businesses to get started. Newcomers usually only get familiar with the online shopping rules and build up a reputation after completing at least 100 trades, according to website workers.

For more details, please read the complete Chinese story here at http://www.morningpost.com.cn/article.asp?articleid=160465

(China.org.cn January 16, 2009)