AVIC International Holding Corporation has tapped into a segment of China's e-commerce industry by investing in an online antiques auction platform, epailive.com.
AVIC International's operations cover a wide range of areas including international aviation, trading and logistics, retail, property and electronics.
Epailive.com officially went online Tuesday, allowing bidders to bid for antiques without actually being in a "bricks and mortar" auction room.
Epailive.com's development will mainly rely on the capital injected by AVIC International, with revenue coming from membership fees and a few advertisements, Jiang Qiqi, Chief Executive Officer of Epai Live Auction Co ltd, told chinadaily.com.cn Tuesday. She added that members only need to pay a little over 20 yuan a month.
AVIC International now holds seven A-share or H-share companies and plans to list as a whole in the near future, according to 21st Century Business Herald.
Epailive.com also provides online services for buyers and sellers of art and antiques at auction, including online catalogues, auction alerts at home and abroad, and online payment.
The website, is similar to ATG Media's sale-room.com, but "is more than the Chinese version of it", Jiang said, but she did not detail the differences.
Jiang said ATG Media is not a shareholder of Epailive, but its strategic partner and the two swap auction information.
The Times reported on Aug 3, 2009 that ATG Media "has succeeded where eBay has failed in building a powerful position in the online antiques auction market".
However, an independent analyst surnamed Luo said that bidding live may not be that attractive as bidders prefer to see antiques in person due to fakes in the industry.
He said the website may need to expand its fame and to set up a credit-rating system.
Since its trial operation in April, Epailive.com has set up cooperation with 130 domestic auction companies and live broadcast more than 400 auctions in the United States and Europe, and published online lots at 1300 worldwide auctions, Jiang said on Tuesday at the press conference held in Beijing.
Epai Live Auction Co ltd has also launched its bimonthly Chinese publication, Global Live Auction Gazettte for industry readers.