58.com (WUBA) began trading on the NYSE on 31 October 2013

Beijing-based 58.com Inc. visited NYSE this morning to celebrate the company’s IPO under the ticker symbol WUBA. 58.com Inc. operates China’s largest online marketplace serving local merchants and consumers.

To mark the occasion Founder, Chairman & CEO, Jinbo Yao, rang the Opening Bell.

58.com, China’s equivalent of Craigslist

Though it has drawn comparisons to Craigslist, 58.com’s similarity to the U.S. site ends at the listings. Unlike in the U.S. and other Western countries where Craigslist operates, many small and medium enterprises in China’s smaller cities don’t yet widely use the Internet for business. As a result, 58.com runs offices in 26 different Chinese cities, making use of a local presence to train vendors in local environs on how to use its site. The company then sells the vendors memberships or other marketing packages, which give listings a special priority at the top of different sections of the site.