eBay Chief Says China Closed to Outside Internet Firms

The head of global online auction powerhouse eBay said that China has essentially put up a wall when it comes to non-Chinese Internet firms.

"The domestic China market for Internet-based service is, in essence, closed," eBay chief executive John Donahoe said during an interview at a Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

"The Chinese government is not going to allow a non-Chinese Internet company to succeed in China...it is a weapon in national security."

Opportunity, from eBay's perspective, lies in connecting China to the rest of the world.

EBay this year has seen more than $6 billion in goods sold by Chinese sellers to people outside China and is a marketplace for people in that country seeking to import luxury items, according to Donahoe.

While eBay is keenly interested in the booming China market, regulations there would have to ease for the California-based Internet firm to launch a version of its service there, he said.