Wireless Company `Virtually' Enters Chinese Market

The wireless-communications market in the Asia/Pacific region reached 170.7 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2000, according to Dataquest. For the first time, China was the No. 1 country in the region with 51.7 million subscribers. Japan - the former leader - fell to the No. 2 spot with 51.1 million.

With these impressive numbers as a foundation, China held a series of industry gatherings in August that were attended by thousands of interested wireless companies from around the globe.

Sponsored by the United States Department of Commerce, the first Virtual Trade Mission (VTM) was broadcast via the Web Aug. 21-24 in conjunction with the 8th China Computer world Expo, the 16th World Computer Congress, and the 6th Networking China Expo in Beijing. China Computerworld Expo is China's largest IT show for business users and resellers, with an estimated 300,000 attendees.

"The trade mission came out of bilateral cooperation we have with China called the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade," said Tu-Trang Phan, U.S. Department of Commerce international trade specialist. "We wanted to be able to give small businesses an idea of the Chinese market, without necessarily having to put the financial resources into traveling and making appointments over there. This was a way for companies to leverage the technologies of the Internet to see if there was interest over there and see how their products would fare."

Companies paid a $750 participation fee for a spot on the site. Many participating companies also sent representatives to the shows. The VTM Website will be up for a full year.

"It looks like they're entering that show (on the site)," she said. "Each company basically has a `booth' that's in both Chinese and English. And they display their product literature via this Internet site. It can be expensive for a small or medium business to be able to take a risk and enter such a large market like China. This was in some ways to help them save costs, but also to give theme qual market access."

One of those companies was New York City-based w-Trade Technologies, a mobile-application provider offering 19 wireless applications in finance, commerce, content and communications. W-Trade Technologies was one of 15 companies invited to participate in the trade mission.

"The Chinese mobile commerce market is virtually untapped, and w-Trade Technologies has realized the region's enormous growth potential and opportunities for mobile business," said Angela Lee, company spokesperson. "As part of its global expansion strategy, w-Trade Technologies is working to establish itself in the Asian market."

Lee said the Virtual Trade Mission matched company expectations, and it generated interest in w-Trade's technology. Lee added that mobile data is a growing part of the Chinese wireless market.

"Industry analysts project that the number of WAP-phone users in China is expected to reach 800,000 by the end of this year and four million next year," Lee said. "China is the country to watch, and with the number of cellular subscribers and WAP-phone users expected to continue rising, the Chinese market is primed for future mobile initiatives."

W-Trade will continue to pursue joint ventures and partnerships with parties throughout the Asia-Pacific region, she said.

The Virtual Trade Mission to China Web site can be accessed at www.e-expousa.doc.gov/Computerworld/vtm.html.