Auction site Alibaba will host former U.S. President Bill Clinton when he goes to China to be the keynote speaker at the company-organized 2005 China Internet Summit at West Lake. Prominent CEOs from around the world will engage in talks and discuss China's Internet commerce and Internet industry growth at the annual event, which was founded in 2000. An invitation was sent to Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay.

Competition has been heating up in China between the two companies as eBay aggressively expands its presence in China, going head-to-head with Taobao, Alibaba's consumer online auction site. eBay also launched PayPal in China earlier this month, a service that will compete with Alibaba's AliPay payment service.

This year, the China Internet Summit will go global under the theme "Connecting China and the World," and will be held on September 10, 2005.

According to Alibaba.com, the China Internet Summit at West Lake is non-partisan in nature, with the focus on open discussion between speakers and attendees. This year, the dialogue will address the key issues facing China's Internet industry, including globalization strategies, the future of online gaming and the development of ecommerce.

Along with President Clinton, other confirmed speakers for this year's event include William Ding, Founder of Netease; Charles Zhang, CEO of Sohu; Ma Huateng, CEO of Tencent; and Tianqiao Chen, CEO of Shanda.