China.com, TheBigStore.com Sign Retail Deal

China.com Corp. today announced it will team up with U.S. online marketer TheBigStore.com and a Chinese company to set up retail e-commerce sites across Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

The three-way venture, to be called TheBigStore.com Asia, is likely to get a boost in to the e-commerce market in Mainland China through the participation of China Commerce Development Group. That group oversees China's major retail chains and distribution centers, according to China.com. The company said the State Administration of Internal Trade also will participate.

Consumers initially will reach the retail sites, under the brand name TheBigStore.com Asia, through China.com's existing portals, such as China.com, HongKong.com and Taiwan.com. Together with TheBigStore, China.com gradually will roll out retail sites for many countries across the region, in local languages.

China.com will own 20 percent of TheBigStore.com Asia. According to China.com, the retail sites will be built jointly by TheBigStore.com and China.com's Web development business, The Web Connection.

China.com Corp. is based in Hong Kong and can be reached a http://www.china.com. TheBigStore.com, in Newport Beach, California, is on the Web at http://www.thebigstore.com.