DHgate.com

DHgate.com

Type	E-Commerce
Industry	Internet
Headquarters	Beijing, China
Key people	Diane Wang, founder and CEO
Website	www.dhgate.com

DHgate.com (simplified Chinese: 敦煌网; pinyin: Dūnhuángwǎng) is a business-to-business (B2B) e-Commerce website connecting Chinese suppliers (specifically China-based SMEs ) with buyers overseas where users can order products directly through the site. The company was founded in China in 2004.

Based on figures from the first quarter of 2011, DHgate.com claims to have about 25 million product listings from over 900,000 Chinese suppliers and 4 million buyers from 230 different countries.^[1] The website allows users to post, browse and order wholesale products from Chinese manufacturers and sellers.

The company website states that the company has grown 1,771% in the past three years, a figure that influenced its selection on the 2009 Deloitte Technology China's Top 50 Fast Growing Enterprises.
In 2011, the site had a platform GMV of 6 billion CNY (924 million USD). Merchandise available on the site include electronics, beauty products, outdoor sporting supplies, clothes, etc.^[2] Currently over 50% of the website's buyers are located in North America and Europe.^[3]

DHgate works closely with PayPal, with whom the company has a strategic partnership. DHgate is currently PayPal's largest customer in the Asia-Pacific region.^[4]) The China Construction Bank also cooperates with DHgate to offer a microloan service (called "CCB-DHgate eBaotong") to users with good records on the site.^[5] Other strategic partners include UPS and eBay.

In 2010 DHgate obtained third round funding from the American private equity firm Warburg Pincus totaling nearly 200 million RMB (equivalent to over 30 million USD).^[6]

Founder and CEO Diane Wang

DHgate.com was founded by Diane Wang, the current CEO, in 2004. Though little known outside of China, she is covered in the Chinese media as one of the country's "beautiful woman CEOs" (美女CEO)^[7] Before founding DHgate, Wang was one of the founders of Joyo.com. She also once served as Country Marketing Director of Cisco Systems where she managed China marketing communications. Wang also served as the Marketing Service Manager and Head of Business Development Department for Microsoft (China) Corporation for six years (from 1993 to 1996).^[8]

The Name "DHgate"

The "DH" in DHgate refers to Dunhuang (Mandarin 敦煌 (Dūnhuáng)), a Chinese city in modern-day Gansu province and formerly a strategic point on the Silk Road which linked China to the rest of the world during ancient times.^[9] The name alludes to the company's place as a modern, online version of the Silk Road linking customers in China and abroad.

Awards

2009

• Ranked 2nd in China Trade Future Stars by the Business Review 2009^[10]
• Ranked 5th in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 China 2009^[11]
• Ranked 13th in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Asia-Pacific 2009^[12]

2010

• Ranked in the China Industrial E-commerce Dotcom Top 100^[13]

2011

• Recommended by the Chinese Minsitry of Commerce as one of China's Top 4 E-Commerce Platforms for International Trade ^[14]
• Ranked Number One B2B Dotcom Power in the B2B category at the 2011 China E-commerce Culture Festival^[15]

References

1. ^ "Diane Wang: Rounding up the "Ant" Heroes". Sino Foreign Management. http://www.zwgl.com.cn/article_info.asp?nid=4243. 
2. ^ "Global E-commerce Guide: Hotspots in the First Half of 2011". sohu.com. http://roll.sohu.com/20110722/n314236007.shtml. 
3. ^ "Diane Wang: Rounding up the "Ant" Heroes". Sino Foreign Management. http://www.zwgl.com.cn/article_info.asp?nid=4243. 
4. ^ "PayPal and DHgate Partner on Billion Dollar M-Commerce in China". ECommerce Alliance of Singapore. http://ecommerce.org.sg/2010/01/paypal-and-dhgate-partner-on-billion-dollar-m-commerce-in-china/. 
5. ^ "DHgate works with CCB". Global Times. http://business.globaltimes.cn/industries/2010-07/547251.html. 
6. ^ "Warburg Pincus Leads Third-Round Investment to DHgate.com with RMB200M". PE Daily. http://www.pedaily.cn/Item/186503.aspx. 
7. ^ "DHgate's Diane Wang: A Beautiful Woman CEO Who Completely Defies Ma Yun". Hexun TV. http://tv.hexun.com/2011-04-22/128981060.html. 
8. ^ "Wang Shutong: A Ladylike Success in China's IT Field". CRI News. http://english.cri.cn/4406/2009/07/20/2241s502626.htm. 
9. ^ "Wang Shutong: A Ladylike Success in China's IT Field". CRI News. http://english.cri.cn/4406/2009/07/20/2241s502626.htm. 
10. ^ "DHgate wins second place in the 2009 China Trade Future Stars Competition". Feng Huang Net Finance. http://msn.finance.ifeng.com/news/20091121/288100.shtml. 
11. ^ "Deloitte Technology Fast 50 China 2009 List". http://www.deloitte.com/view/zh_CN/cn/ind-cn/tmt-cn/59a5fc2267925210VgnVCM100000ba42f00aRCRD.htm. 
12. ^ "Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific 2009 Winners Report". Deloitte Technology. http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_GX/global/industries/technology-media-telecommunications/deloitte-technology-fast-500/deloitte-technology-fast-500-asia-pacific/21c389f8d1775210VgnVCM200000bb42f00aRCRD.htm. 
13. ^ "Second Chinese E-Commerce Cultural Festival's Dotcom Top 100". http://www.weste.net/2010/9-15/72490.html. 
14. ^ "May 5 Conference on E-commerce Platforms for International Trade". Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China Department of Foreign Trade. http://wms.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/xxfb/201105/20110507534558.html. 
15. ^ "DHgate takes first place in the 2011 China E-commerce Culture Festival". Do News. http://game.chinanews.com/show.php?contentid=6773. 

External links

• Official website
• DHgate's Baidu Baike page