21 Sep 2015 07:00
| 21 September 2015 |
JQW plc
("JQW" or the "Company")
Temporary Suspension of Operations
On 19 September 2015, the Company received an Administrative Penalty Decision Letter ("Decision Letter"), dated 17 September 2015, that has imposed penalties of a fine of RMB 18,000 and a one-month suspension of operations for violations of the Advertisement Law of the People's Republic of China, the Advertisement Management Regulations, and the Prohibition of Pyramid Selling Regulations. The Decision Letter was issued by the local Administration of Industry and Commerce (the "AIC") following an investigation of the Company's operations after the AIC received a complaint from the public that certain advertisements on the Company's B2B website platform violated advertisement regulations.
The violations of advertising regulation arise from client websites that the Company hosts on its website, www.jqw.com. As a result of the penalties imposed, the website has been suspended for a one month period. The Company is reviewing its internal controls and procedures established to monitor client websites for potential breaches of online advertising regulation, and is working closely with the AIC in order to ensure that all client websites are fully compliant and that the suspension of operations can be lifted at the end of the one month period.
A further announcement will be made in due course.
- Ends -
For further information:
JQW plc | |
Cai Yongde, Chairman | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7710 |
Chen Daocai, Chief Executive Officer | www.jqw-ir.com |
Francis Chan, Chief Financial Officer |
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (Nomad & Broker) | |
Sandy Jamieson / Liam Murray | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7148 7900 |
www.cairnfin.com |
Media enquiries:
Abchurch Communications Limited | |
Quincy Allan / Viktoria Langley | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7716 |
jqw@abchurch-group.com | www.abchurch-group.com |
About JQW plc
JQW is a leading domestic business-to-business e-commerce provider based in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. The Group's core business is its online B2B platform, www.jqw.com, which has been developed to encourage domestic trade by connecting Chinese SMEs with potential trade partners. Founded in 2004, the platform was developed to help to market Chinese SME's websites. JQW has evolved rapidly to become one of the top three B2B e-commerce website in China in terms of traffic and operates, what the Director's believe to be, the first dedicated B2B search engine, www.jqw.cn.
JQW offers a low-cost entry point for Chinese SMEs to promote themselves and their B2B products to potential buyers. In order to increase transaction opportunities, JQW offers its clients a broad range of services including website design, commercial search services and advertising.
There are approximately 50 million SMEs in China manufacturing a diverse range of products, accounting for 60% of the country's GDP. The number of mobile internet-access users in China stood at 871 million at September 2014 and investment in the country's telecommunications infrastructure continues to accelerate. These factors have driven an increased demand for domestic trade of B2B, B2C and C2C e-commerce. With the majority of these SMEs requiring the use of third party B2B e-commerce platforms to promote their businesses and access trade partners, the Board believes that JQW offers a robust and highly reputable branded platform. With exposure in over 50 industry sectors and considerable scope for future growth, JQW is in a strong position to capitalise on the development of this market.
At the end of 2014, the Group had:
11 million Registered users
5 million Page views per day
1,046,000 Sheng-Yi-Tong members with website "shops"
241,000 Fee-paying members
600 Rated in the top 600 websites for global website traffic rankings
44 Sales agencies
3 Top 3 in Chinese B2B website traffic rankings