RPT-UPDATE 1-China Alibaba global member fee jumps on upgrade

(Repeating story from May 5, changing USN)

BEIJING, May 5 (Reuters) - Alibaba (1688.HK), China's largest e-commerce company, on Tuesday said it would raise the fee its international members pay five-fold on June 15, in return for an upgraded package of services.

Members outside of greater China, however, that signed up before June 15 would pay the prevailing yearly fee of $589 for the duration of their contracts while receiving the upgraded level of service, said the company in a statement.

The company said international members accounted for only 2 percent of revenue, but the new pricing scheme was aimed at attracting more members that wanted better services to sell their products over the Internet.

The announcement comes after China's e-commerce giant posted a fourth-quarter net profit decline of 35.4 percent from the preceding quarter, and warned that profit margins would shrink further in 2009.

The new annual fee of $2,999 will apply to new members outside of greater China, and bring them in line with the pricing and level of service domestic exporters receive, it said.

The upgrade would allow buyers to upload video footage of factories and products of Alibaba member companies and offer greater exposure to global buyers, the company said.

Alibaba, which connects more than 35 million registered small-business buyers and sellers online, slashed its membership fees for greater China exporters by 60 percent last year to attract more traders, and expects revenue growth to remain modest in 2009.

($=6.83 yuan) (Reporting by Kirby Chien; Editing by Chris Lewis)