China Sells 7.7 Billion Won Rocket via Live Internet Shopping

Photo: Weibo

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] A 7.7 billion won Chinese-made rocket was sold through an internet live broadcast.

According to Chinese media including Global Times on the 2nd, Taobao, an online shopping platform operated by Alibaba, sold a Chinese-made rocket through an internet live broadcast the previous night. It is the Kuaizhou-1A carrier rocket made in Wuhan, Hubei Province, which uses solid fuel.

Before the broadcast, Taobao announced on Weibo that it would hold a live broadcast selling the rocket and introduced "how to choose a rocket," leading some to believe it was an April Fools' prank. However, the rocket sale live broadcast actually took place at 8:40 PM (China time).

The rocket was sold out within minutes of the sale starting. The cost per launch is 40 million yuan (approximately 6.9 billion won) with a 500,000 yuan deposit required. Taobao explained that the actual rocket price is 45 million yuan (approximately 7.7 billion won), but it was discounted by 5 million yuan from the original price. The buyer of this rocket can not only command the rocket launch but also customize the rocket as desired and visit the launch site to direct launch-related matters.

This is the first time a rocket has appeared in an internet shopping live broadcast sale. Taobao's survey on the 27th of last month asking consumers about desired sales targets and services had a significant influence. The survey included various answers such as rockets, satellites, and cleaners, with rockets being the final selection.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.