Comrade Nanny dampens e-commerce potential

We have been writing for some while about the pieces coming together to make e-commerce more viable in China and about how this could be a key trend for business media companies (most recently here). Our last post before heading off behind the Great Firewall (Shanghai this time - same mediocre access to the real Internet as everywhere else in China) was about the Alibaba/Taobao vs. eBay battle.

Now we hear that the powers that be have lost their nerve and China's newspapers all carry the headline "Rules on e-payment in single deal tightened". The Shanghai Daily article kicks off:

INDIVIDUAL users are not allowed to buy products valued at more than 1,000 yuan (US$123.45) through electronic payment in a single deal to hedge against the risk of online fraud, the People's Bank of China said on its Website.

It goes on to suggest that this will not really cramp e-commerce as there are other ways to pay. Indeed there are. Men on bicycles with renminbi notes clamped in cleft sticks will do the job. But that's not really the point is it.

The maximum limit for commercial users is Rmb50,000 (US$6,200) which I dare say will come as a great relief to the paper clip purchasers.