"Taobao.com is committed to fostering the development of e-commerce in China while building China's largest and most trusted online consumer marketplace," said Alibaba.com CEO Jack Ma. "By making Taobao.com's services free for an additional three years and investing U.S. $120 million into growing our community, we plan to solidify Taobao's leadership position and add new functions and services that meet the unique local needs of China's e-commerce consumers. Through this investment we hope Taobao.com will be able to create more than one million jobs for entrepreneurs in China who can join the Taobao community to build and grow their businesses."
Taobao.com is currently free for buyers and sellers in China, allowing users to post products, communicate in real time, and make transactions online. The marketplace was launched in 2003 and in just two years became China's leading online marketplace, surpassing competitors on all key metrics, including Web site traffic, active users, product listings and transaction volume.
