China's government has a well-documented ambivalence toward the Web as a medium for the masses, demonstrated by its censorship of blogs and search engines. Authorities evidently have more enthusiasm for business-to-business Internet ventures.

Today GXS of Gaithersburg plans to announce an e-commerce service for China's auto industry in partnership with China Entercom, a telecom company backed by the Chinese government.

China e-Auto Hub will allow automakers, parts makers and dealerships to exchange electronic documents such as design specifications and shipping invoices, domestically and worldwide.

"Today when Chery wants to place an order, they place it on the phone or e-mail," said Steve Keifer, GXS's vice president of industry marketing, referring to a leading Chinese automaker. "If you're trying to order thousands and thousands of parts, that's slow, it's inefficient, it's error-prone because somebody writes down the wrong number or loses the paperwork."

GXS, which says it is the world's biggest provider of business-to-business e-commerce services, is owned by Francisco Partners and has about 1,600 employees worldwide.

-- Larry Liebert