Alibaba launches online payment service to compete eBay's PayPal

From the HindustanTimes: China's Alibaba launches online payment service

"PayPal solved the problems for US e-commerce and Alipay is the way we want to solve the Chinese e-commerce payment problem," Alibaba chief executive Jack Ma told Reuters in an interview."

"Alibaba, whose largest investor is Japan's Softbank Corp, had cash revenue of $68 million last year, more than double the $30 million in 2003. The company was "very profitable" and both revenue and profit were expected to double in 2005, Ma said." Read more

China Net Investor: Alibaba.com is a rapidly expanding online merchant serving small and medium-sized businesses in mainland China. Its consumer online auction unit, Taobao.com, is one of the most popular online auction sites in the country. Competitors are 1pai.com (Sina/Yahoo) and EbayEachnet.