Pierre, do you know what this signifies? (From the eBay announcement that was linked to the eCommerce Bytes article):
"The Northern Chinese city of Tianjin is a growing regional hub for online retail export and becomes the eighth Chinese pilot city for cross-border eCommerce trade."
Does this mean this is the 8th Chinese city eBay has made agreements of this sort with? Or the 8th Chinese city that any e-Commerce company has partnered with?
According to this announcement, eBay is putting direct resources and investment into Chinese manufacturing regions -- and has been for some time if I read the above line correctly. Not just making trade deals, but being involved in training, management, financing and other areas. They might as well be on the city council (I note the Deputy Mayor of the city attended the signing ceremony):
"At a signing ceremony with the Director of the Tianjin Commission of Commerce and Tianjin’s Executive Deputy Mayor, John Lin [...].
Under the new agreement, eBay and Tianjin will work together to develop the city in the areas of eCommerce operations, logistics, innovation, entrepreneurship, financing and talent development."
I have to wonder what the implications are of a U.S. company signing partnership ventures with whole cities that are ultimately under the control of a communist government?
