How to Develop Chinese Flower Auction Markets: Results from a Comparative Analysis‪.‬

1. Introduction At present, the main transaction mode in China is competitor deal. Higher transaction costs and lower efficiency, insufficient market information and unjust transaction price are competitor deal's main weakness, which restrict the development of agricultural circulation and agricultural industrialization. Compared with competitor deal mode, the auction market can result in significant savings for both sellers and buyers. Savings are made by reducing transaction costs, increasing the circle of potential customers as well as by improving the search-and-find capabilities for all members concerned [1]. Electronic auctioning in particular is a rapidly expanding application [2]. The additional benefit of the auction is the matching of demand and supply at the 'best price' at one specific point in time. The advantages, however, must be weighed up against lower switching costs for auction participants [3]. And with these good reasons, for the vast majority of floriculture business the auction is the World Trade Center: a better way to realize an assortment of flowers with as broad a scope as possible, produced across the world, and available for market price reflecting the supply and demand in a short time. The auction provides a hugely diverse selection of trade companies with equally diverse quantities of flowers and plants.