(中文大意)

　　中国内地的消费者现在越来越习惯上网购买服装和其他商品，知名的在线拍卖网站eBay表示，中国有一天将超过美国成为最大的在线交易市场。

　　eBay首席执行官梅格-惠特曼(Meg Whitman)表示，她对于被重新命名为“eBay易趣”、eBay在中国下属的一家合资分公司的前景表示乐观。惠特曼说，eBay易趣这一网站目前仍然亏损，但在线销售正在日益红火起来，因此eBay现在对于占领更大的市场份额非常感兴趣。

　　惠特曼说，易趣现有400万注册用户，其在去年第四季度的网上交易价值等同于4400万美元。惠特曼表示：“未来10到15年，随着我们加大对中国市场的投入，我认为中国将可能成为eBay在全球范围内最大的市场。我认为长期而言，中国市场拥有巨大的发展潜力，我们希望竭尽全力保持我们在这一市场上的老大位置。”

　　易趣在上海雇有220名员工，eBay计划随着一个研发中心的开通，其可以在未来几年之内将员工数量增加“几百人”。创建于1995年的eBay现在是全球最大的在线拍卖站点，其总部位于加州圣何塞，在全球范围内拥有9490万注册用户。

Mainland Chinese consumers are increasingly going online to purchase clothing and other goods, and the head of online auction site eBay Inc. said Tuesday that China will someday overtake the United States and become its biggest market.

EBay chief executive Meg Whitman said she is optimistic about prospects for EachNet, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based site that does business in China and is being renamed eBay EachNet.

The Chinese site is still losing money, but online sales are booming and eBay is most interested at this point in gaining market share "for a very strong business over the long haul," Whitman said.

EachNet now has 4 million registered users, who traded the equivalent of $44 million in merchandise in the fourth quarter of last year, she said.

"Ten to 15 years from now, I think China can be eBay's largest market on a global basis as we build up the local trade and the export trade," Whitman told an audience of business executives.

"We think China has tremendous long-term potential and we want to do everything we can to maintain our No. 1 position," Whitman said.

EachNet has employed 220 employees in Shanghai, but eBay plans to expand its staff size by "several hundred" over the next few years as it launches a development center.

Founded as an antique and collectibles auction site in 1995, eBay is now the world's largest online auction site. It is based in San Jose, Calif., and has 94.9 million registered users globally.