Chinese B2C e-commerce website 360buy.com has reportedly invested in Beijing Haoyaoshi Pharmacy Chain Company, a subsidiary of Jointown Pharmaceutical Group Company Ltd.

As part of the investment, 360buy.com will formally enter the Chinese Internet pharmaceutical market and to provide consumers with online shopping of medical and health products.

After the investment, 360buy.com and Haoyaoshi will operate a joint venture. Jointown will be responsible for the procurement, storage, and distribution of medicines and medical equipment; while 360buy.com will support Jointown by selling these products via its B2C Internet platform. No financial details related to the investment has been released so far.

The Internet pharmaceutical market is reportedly an important strategic market for 360buy.com's future development. According to statistics released by China Association of Pharmaceutical Commerce, in 2010, China's pharmaceutical retail market scale reached CNY173.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17%. However, the Internet sales of pharmaceutical products were just about CNY100 million, in part because of stiff regulations concerning buying and selling drugs online.

Apart from the traditional 3C and digital products market, 360buy.com has now entered many other sectors, including daily commodities, audio-visual products, infant products, food, and women's apparel. In 2010, the company says it gained sales of CNY10.2 billion, occupying 32.5% market share of the Chinese Internet retail market. It now allegedly has 20 million registered users across China; its daily processed orders are over 200,000; and its average daily page views are claimed to be over 45 million.