Seizing the lucrative opportunities arising from the e-commerce boom, as well as the Chinese mainland's plan to scrap its one-child policy, an online parenting platform is expanding its footprint in Hong Kong, pinning high hopes on the SAR's role as a springboard for the vast China market.

Founded in 2005, China Parenting Network Holdings Ltd (CPNH) depicts itself as an online platform and vertical community with an eye on the mainland's "children-babies-maternity" (CBM) market.

The company offers parenting tips, up-to-date information and e-commerce services for moms and moms-to-be, who were born in the 1980s and 1990s, are open-minded and tend to raise their children in a way that's in line with that of developed countries.

The firm, based in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, currently operates multiple platforms, including its flagship website and more than 30 iOS and Android apps for mobile devices and Internet protocol television. It went public on Hong Kong's Growth Enterprise Market in July this year, betting big on the local CBM market.

In the first nine months of this year, CPNH recorded a whopping 64.8-percent surge in gross profit to 50.6 million yuan ($7.9 million) from a year earlier, with its gross profit margin up slightly from a staggering 90.6 percent to 91.3 percent.

During the period, revenues surged 63.4 percent to 55.4 million yuan.

According to CPNH Chief Executive Officer Cheng Li, such a strong business performance has become commonplace for the company in recent years, with advertising, marketing and promotional services being the two top revenue spinners.

According to Beijing-based consulting firm iResearch, the mainland's online maternity-and-baby products market is projected to grow by 22.4 percent annually between 2014 and 2018, accounting for 10 percent of the overall CBM sector by 2018 with a market value of 300 billion yuan.

Like many market players, CPNH is jumping on the e-commerce wagon to tap the huge business potential from its pool of nearly 30 million active users monthly.

But, instead of focusing on standard-priced items like many mainland mother-and-child specialist e-commerce sites, Cheng said the company will concentrate on medical, financial and insurance products tailor made for moms and moms-to-be.

CPNH, along with its partner Yilu Fortune, a Beijing-based online finance service platform, have seen sales of its financial products designed for moms and moms-to-be hit 121 million yuan during the "Double 11" shopping spree.

The company announced a cooperation deal this week with Town Health International Medical Group Ltd - one of Hong Kong's largest healthcare groups - and China Life Insurance (Overseas) Company Ltd.

Cheng believes CPNH is set to reap the early advantage of such a new and in-depth e-commerce model.

"Though it will take some time for us to reap the actual benefits of the country's new two-child policy, it's nothing short of a massive boon for the CBM sector," he said.

China Parenting Network Holdings Ltd's share price dropped 1.17 percent to close at HK$2.54 on Thursday. The Hang Seng Index increased 1.41 percent.

sophia@chinadailyhk.com

Two men, carrying babies in front packs, check their phones in Central. Like many players in the mainland's parenting market, China Parenting Network Holdings is tapping the huge business potential from its e-commerce pool of nearly 30 million active users monthly. Edmond Tang / China Daily

(HK Edition 11/20/2015 page8)