Can US SMEs afford to log on to Alibaba?

Analysts see potential, pitfalls in China's online shopping market, report Amy He and Paul Welitzkin in New York, and Yang Ziman in Beijing.

China's e-commerce market - specifically Alibaba's online shopping site, Taobao - isn't on Rob Wray's radar right now, but he says it might be in two years.

'China... is a low priority due to our experiences with Chinese banking and business complexity," said the Baltimore businessman, who owns Mp3Car, a small company selling electronics on Amazon and eBay in the United States. "Our focus is on building in the US, where we're based, and in other rapidly expanding markets that are less complex to enter."