Big plans for e-commerce growth

Guideline stresses need for quality as industry matures

China will prioritize quality over quantity in growing e-commerce as the sector matures and devises new indexes for its development to enable it to play a notable role in catalyzing high-quality growth during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), experts and industrial insiders said.

On Oct 27, the Ministry of Commerce, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission and National Development and Reform Commission jointly released a guideline aimed at boosting e-commerce development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, mapping out development priorities for the sector and establishing growth targets in specific areas.

Under the plan, e-commerce will be increasingly integrated with primary, secondary and tertiary industries by 2025, and the digital transformation of the industrial and supply chains will be continued, becoming a significant force for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and rural vitalization.