Although Taobao and its sister site Taobao Mall, where only professional sellers are allowed, somewhat resemble eBay and Amazon, their executives have a grander ambition.

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Vipshop has never been profitable and faces competition from other online retailers like Taobao Mall, 360Buy and Dangdang, which adds to the hurdles the company must overcome to win investors.

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"We felt that working with Taobao Mall offered the best approach to reaching out to more consumers because it is so clearly the most influential online business-to-consumer sales channel, " said Christophe Bezu, chief e-commerce officer for Adidas, in an email.

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At home in China, Mr. Ma is trying to stay ahead of the game as competition rises for the first time against his massive online shopping sites, Taobao Marketplace and Taobao Mall, which rival eBay.com in terms of transaction value.

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