Sparkice: Originally setup in Canada in 1993, Sparkice grew by opening a successful chain of Chinese Internet Cafes, mostly in Beijing. In spring 2000 it shifted from B2C to a B2B exchange business model,announcing a partnership with leading German retailer Metro AG, and a series of pacts with the bank of China and China shipping conglomerate COSCO,in addition to service tie-ups with GEMEX,SCG and AIG, among others.