REFILE-UPDATE 2-Alibaba's Taobao Mall aims to double transaction value in 2012

(Refiles to tweak byline)

* Targets 200 billion yuan in transaction value in 2012 -statement

* Says has secured commitments from 38 leading B2C sites

* No plans for IPO - president

By Wan Xu and Don Durfee

BEIJING, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Alibaba's Taobao Mall is targeting 200 billion yuan ($31.3 billion) in transaction value in 2012, double the amount it is on track to achieve this year, by increasing cooperation with partners, it said on Monday.

Taobao Mall, a unit of Alibaba Group, also said it has secured commitments from 38 leading B2C sites to join its platform by setting up flagship stores.

"Taobao Mall itself will not sell merchandise nor become a retailer, and will continue to focus on its core competency as a B2C platform that helps brands and retailers to grow and flourish," Daniel Zhang, president of Taobao Mall said in a statement.

"We are not weighted down by the low gross margin pressures of taking on our own inventory. Our platform business model enables us to re-invest our profits," he said.

Taobao Mall said it has a profit margin on par with the current average for Chinese Internet companies. Taobao Mall is on track to generate about 100 billion yuan in gross merchandise value in 2011.

In June, Alibaba Group split its e-commerce website Taobao into three companies, namely its product search engine eTao, business-to-consumer website Taobao Mall and consumer-to-consumer website Taobao.com.

"Currently we are very profitable. Our financial situation is very good and we have very robust cash flow. Under this situation, we don't see the need for IPO. We don't have pressure from investors," said Zhang in a group interview.

Yahoo owns about 40 percent of Alibaba Group, while Softbank owns about a third. Alibaba.com is the group's listed business-to-business unit. China's B2C segment is the fastest growing niche in the country's booming e-commerce industry, it hit 172.6 percent growth in the second quarter.

Taobao Mall had 32.8 percent of China's 54.2 billion yuan B2C online marketplace in the second-quarter, according to data from Analysys International. 360buy, Taobao Mall's nearest rival, had 12.4 percent of the market. ($1 = 6.383 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting by Xu Wan; Writing by Melanie Lee; Editing by Kazunori Takada)