Users of live streaming e-commerce increase

Users of live streaming e-commerce platforms reached 469 million in China by June 2022, up 204 million from March 2020, and accounted for 44.6 percent of the total internet users in the country, said the Academy of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in a report on Nov 15.

As per the report that focuses on the development trend of China's e-commerce, between May 2021 and April 2022, China's major short-video platform Douyin launched over 9 million livestreams every month, selling at least 10 billion pieces of goods, the total sales of which grew 2.2 times year-on-year. By March 2022, number of views of livestreams on Taobao reached over 50 billion.

The report noted that digital techs have become the new driver in consumption upgrade. On the one hand, digital techs have expedited the forming of new business patterns, such as cloud shopping and cloud concert. On the other hand, digital techs have pushed ahead refining the consumption structure.

The report deemed e-commerce is playing a key role in China's economic recovery and development against the background of a complicated international and domestic environment.

First, the e-commerce has become a major force to boost consumption and supply. In the first nine months of this year, the online retail sales of physical commodity recorded at 8.24 trillion yuan ($1.15 trillion), up 6.1 percent on a yearly basis, far higher than the total retail sales of consumer goods over the same period. Online sales of food, clothing and other daily necessities grew 5.6 percent, 4.7 percent and 5.2 percent respectively, guaranteeing the supplies for daily life.

Second, the emerging of new consumption scenarios has boosted service sectors. By June this year, remote-work users in China reached 461 million, 43.8 percent of the total internet users of the country. So far, online medical service users stand at 300 million, 28.5 percent of the total internet users.

Third, cross-border e-commerce has become an important tool to stabilize foreign trade and promote consumption. Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that foreign trade via cross-border e-commerce in the first half this year increased 28.6 percent from a year earlier.