China's Yiwu revs up international online trading

China's Yiwu, the world's largest wholesale center of small commodities and accessories, on Thursday signed a cooperation agreement with partners in nine countries in a bid to boost online trading. Signed parties agreed on localization of Yiwu's online trading platform, Yiwubuy, in their countries, and cooperation on warehousing and customs clearance on the goods purchased through the platform. Trade companies signing the agreement will become the sole partners of Yiwubuy in their respective countries: United States, Japan, Australia, Russia, Poland, Spain, Germany, Kazakhstan and Malaysia. Companies in these countries will be able to run their shops online or purchase Chinese commodities through the platform in their own languages, said Wang Jianjun, general manager of Yiwubuy. Yiwubuy is a B2B online trading platform for shops and the official website for Yiwu Small Commodity Wholesale Center. As of March, commodity items on the platform had reached 1.9 million. Total transaction volume reached 60 million yuan (9.7 million U.S. dollars) in 2013. The agreement was signed in Yiwu City, in east China's Zhejiang Province, where the China International Electronic Commerce Expo kicked off on Thursday. The event, scheduled from Thursday to Saturday, was co-organized by the China International Electronic Commerce Center under the Ministry of Commerce, China Electronic Chamber of Commerce under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and Yiwu City government.