SINA.com Press Center

0806

SINA Launched Paid E-Mail Services Globally To Expand Revenue Stream
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Additionally, Study Showed Over 54% of Advertisers Online Chose SINA-Reaffirming SINA as the Far Leading Online Media of Choice for Advertisers in China

BEIJING/ SUNNYVALE, Calif., August 6, 2001 - SINA.com (Nasdaq: SINA), a leading Chinese media and Internet services company today announced it is expanding its revenue base with the launch of paid e-mail services in China and North America, with plans to launch similar services in SINA's other markets in the near future. This paid e-mail service follows the recent successful launch of various fee-based services such as short messaging and classified ads. It is a part of an overall program of new services by SINA designed to upgrade its various user segments toward more fees or subscription based relationships.

With more than 22 million users, SINA is now the largest e-mail provider in China. This new e-mail service is a value-added offering built on top of its existing basic free email service. It is designed to target business, professional and other power users within SINA's free-mail user base who require larger mailboxes, faster connection and tighter security. SINA will continue to offer its advertisement supported free basic email service to the online mass audience in China. With both services, SINA will be able to maximize its revenue base by offering differentiated offerings for various segments in its user base.

In a separate development, a leading China Internet industry research firm WiseCast released it semi-annual China Internet Advertising Analysis Report that shows more companies advertise with SINA than any other web properties in China. According to the report, in the first half of 2001, SINA had 54 percent of the total online advertiser base with Sohu and Netease trailing far behind at 33 percent and 21 percent respectively.

"The paid e-mail service is a part of our larger program of initiatives designed to upgrade our various customer segments toward more fees and subscription based relationships," said Wang Yan, SINA's President. "Together with our dominant position as the leading online media of choice for advertisers, we aim to increase our revenue base and shorten our path to profitability."

About SINA

SINA is a leading Internet media and services company for Chinese communities worldwide, offering on-line news, entertainment, community and e-commerce. A popular destination site for the world's largest population group, SINA offers a Chinese-language network of four localized Web sites that are produced and updated daily by local teams in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and North America. SINA enjoyed 2.2 billion page views for the month of March 2001, as audited by ABC Interactive, and had 22.6 million registered users at the end of the same month.

To learn more about SINA, visit the company's corporate site at http://www.sina.com/corp/, or regional sites at http://www.sina.com, http://www.sina.com.cn, http://sina.com.hk and http://www.sina.com.tw.

Safe Harbor Statement

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements.
Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, SINA's historical and future losses, limited operating history, uncertain regulatory landscape in the People's Republic of China, fluctuations in quarterly operating results and our reliance on advertising sales for revenue. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in SINA's prospectus dated April 12, 2000, in its 10-K filing and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.