From Taobao Villages (TBV) to Taobao Towns (TBT)

From Taobao Villages (TBV) to Taobao Towns (TBT)

What is a Taobao Town?

- a town/village/communal district where more than 3 Taobao villages exist
BECAUSE
for a village to be considered a Taobao village, it must meet the following criteria:
1) More than 10 million rmb yearly E-commerce transactions
2) The location of transaction must be in an administrative village in a rural area
3)Numbers of active online stores must be over 100, or that the number is larger than 10% of the number of the village's inhabiting households
THEREFORE
- a Taobao village is a village where:
1) there is more than 30 million-rmb E-commerce transaction every year
2) it must be located in a RURBAN area
3 )Numbers of active online stores must be over 300, or that the number is larger than 10% of the number of the town's inhabiting households
- These Taobao towns are mid-scale industry clusters
1) 2 factors that determine their clustering: /1/geographic proximity /2/ similarity in merchandise
2) These clustering Taobao villages provide great environment for entrepreneurship & industrial radiation (创业氛围和产业辐射更强）
3) The advent of these Taobao towns urge government to issue policies to support their E-commerce.

As of the end of 2013, 19 Taobao towns exist in China, and the top 10 is listed as follows:
1. Xintang, Zengcheng, Guangzhou, Guangdong (9)
2. Taihe, Baiyun, Guangzhou, Guangdong (7)
3. Dajixiang, Caoxian, Heze, Shandong (6)
4. Gexianzhuang, Qinghe, Xietai, Hebei (6)
5. Qinqiu Jiedao, Boxing, Binzhou, Shandong (5)
6. Qiaoxia, Yongjia, Whenzhou, Zhejiang (5)
7. Shejizhen, Chuning, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (5)
8. Baigou Xincheng, Gaopeidianshi, Baoding, Hebei (5)
9. Shangqinxiang, Anxi, Quanzhou, Fujian (5)
10. Jiangdong, Yiwu, Jinhua, Zhejiang (4)

Characteristics:
All of these TBTs are located in provinces that are on the east coast （在沿海省内）

Top 10 Provinces with the most Taobao villages:
1. Zhejiang (62)
2. Guangdong (54)
3. Fujian (28)
4. Hebei (25)
5. Jiangsu (25) (The TBVs in these 5 provinces cover 90% of the existing TBVs)
6. Shandong (13)
7. Sichuan (2)
8. Henan (1)
9. Tianjing (1)
10. Hubei (1)

Questions:
Are these Taobao towns on their paths to become self-autonomous, economically-prosperous cities, if not already are, even though they are not yet designated as cities by Chinese government?
TBTs = Smart towns? Potentially smart cities?