Ninetowns (NINE) says it has been selected by China's State Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine as one of the winning bidders for proposals for servicing the agency's free import/export e-filing software.

CEO Shuang Wang says, "While our primary strategic and operational objectives have expanded to business-to-business online search, we remain committed to maintaining the value of our existing business-to-government offerings as demonstrated by this announcement. The combination of our B2G and B2B businesses enables us to provide comprehensive services throughout the international trade value chain to our customers, thus enhancing our status as a premier platform for enterprises engaged in international trade."

In August 2005, Ninetowns was selected as the sole import/export e-filing software vendor. As of the year end 2006, there were approximately 28,500 user accounts for the free software. These users represent the potential target customers for the "post-sales" services to be provided by Ninetowns. These services include training, installation, regulatory updates, call center support, and resolving any issues encountered by customers. Ninetowns plans to launch such services in the third quarter of 2007 and expects to charge an annual fee of approximately USD300 per user account.