Chinese Internet company Tencent has announced at its e-commerce annual meeting that the company plans to launch a B2B2C platform in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The new platform is currently under development. It will adopt a new brand logo and will be operated synchronously with Tencent's existing C2C website, Paipai.com.
Wu Xiaoguang, senior executive vice president of Tencent, said that the company's investment in the e-commerce sector is only a supporting strategy and a larger platform is yet to be launched. Companies that have gained investment from Tencent will have the privilege to join the new platform.
According to Wu, the company's e-commerce investment in 2011 has increased costs and Tencent will be more cautious with investment in the future. The company will investigate the overall market development and provide support for the platform's establishment.
Prior to this, Tencent announced plans to invest CNY500 million to help quality vendors accelerate the development of its platform. Apart from these platforms, Tencent will also launch social media shopping and wireless e-commerce platforms.
