China Internet Network Information Center's latest survey results show that by March 2006, there were 2 million shoppers on C2C sites in three major metropolitan areas of China.

Those areas are Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and their numbers account for 16.2% of the total Internet users in China.

The report, called "2006 China C2C Online Shopping Survey Report", says that of the three polled cities, Shanghai's online shoppers include the highest percentage of shoppers among all Internet users, accounting for 18.5%. And that of Beijing and Guangzhou are 17.5% and 11.5% respectively.

The result shows that the C2C sites in China are in fierce competition, with Taobao.com taking up 67.3% of market share, eBay Eachnet 29.1%, Paipai 2.2% and 1pai 1.4%.

The survey reveals that the shopping habits of C2C users is different than B2C users. It found that most consumers use C2C sites to buy clothing, cosmetics, jewelry, computers and mobile phone. And female shoppers take a significant role in C2C shopping.

The survey was administered by Lu Bowang, a renowned Chinese Internet analyst and senior consultant from CNNIC.