context: Ministry of Commerce guidance seeks to lift high-quality e-commerce. It repositions e-commerce as infrastructure to back services trade and the real economy. Amid rising external headwinds weighing on goods trade, Beijing leans on CBEC (cross-border e-commerce) growth. Policymakers see CBEC not only as a way to lift exports and reach new markets, but also as a means to drive growth in digital trade, services and cross‑border payment links. CBEC growth also drives tech innovation and AI rollout.
A Yicai editorial unpacks a Ministry of Commerce guidance to promote high-quality e-commerce development
- aims to build an integrated e-commerce ecosystem integrating supply chains, digital infrastructure and regulatory frameworks
- role of e-commerce in the PRC economy
- key channel supporting transition from investment- and export-led growth to consumption-driven growth
- supports supply chain digitalisation and improves responsiveness to domestic and global demand
- e-commerce has been embedded in the real economy
- taking on the role of enabling selection, trusted ranking and matching between supply and demand
- the PRC has remained the world’s largest online retail market for 13 consecutive years
- e-commerce increasingly built on trust infrastructure rather than pure transaction volume
- mechanisms include livestreaming, direct sourcing and demand-driven customisation
- enables traceability across supply chains and transaction processes
- reduces cost of visibility for quality products and improves fulfilment of personalised demand
- reflects transformation in information flows, transaction structures and connectivity
- mechanisms include livestreaming, direct sourcing and demand-driven customisation
- legacy model focused on maximising sales through traffic acquisition and algorithm-driven promotion
- platforms and merchants prioritised volume expansion over efficiency or precision
- new consumption patterns, stronger digital property awareness and AI adoption are challenging this model
- increasing pressure for innovation and structural adjustment
- despite rapid changes, the core objective of e-commerce remains about helping supply and demand complete selection, trusted ranking and transaction matching more quickly, safely and at lower cost
- e-commerce is not merely a goods and services sales channel
- AI is driving a transition away from traffic and volume driven models
- focus shifting toward
- redefining supply-demand relationships
- balancing stakeholder interests
- building low-cost connection mechanisms
- strengthening trust and security in digital transactions
- as cross-border e-commerce expands rapidly, rules, regulations, governance and standards are increasingly spilling beyond national boundaries
- giving rise to new forms of institutional competition
- only by adhering to pro-development regulatory principles can e-commerce expand global market access
- only by better serving the real economy can it withstand the impact of the new tech revolution
- advancing high-quality e-commerce requires moving beyond path dependence on using new tech to reinforce legacy models while minimising adjustment costs
- instead, upholding a competitive market order in which innovation is oriented toward better serving the real economy
- fair competition is the fundamental force for positive development and the ‘lowest-cost’ trust mechanism