China's e-commerce retail sales reached 10.9 trillion yuan (about 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters, marking an 8.6 percent growth, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
The data indicate that China's e-commerce market has more room for growth even as it already accounts for around half of the global value for the sector.
Overall, the country's e-commerce sector has maintained steady momentum, contributing to consumption expansion, digital transformation of industry, technological innovation, and enhanced international trade, as highlighted by the Ministry of Commerce.
Among the growth sectors, sales of physical goods totaled 9.1 trillion yuan (about 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars), a 7.9 percent increase. Industrial e-commerce also showed promising development, with a 1.6 percent increase in trade volume and over 60 percent of segments experiencing ten billion-yuan growth, underscoring the potential within this area. E-commerce expansion has further spurred the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the industry, leveraging abundant data resources and diverse application scenarios. Major platforms are actively developing large-scale models to enhance customer experience, reduce supplier costs, and improve product quality control.
New drivers of e-commerce growth also stem from the Silk Road E-commerce initiative, a model of international cooperation. Silk Road E-commerce pilot zones have achieved ten systematic advancements, including cross-border data flow, and four innovations, such as electronic invoice payments across borders.
In the first three quarters, import and export volume through the cross-border e-commerce platform recorded an 11.5 percent growth, according to the General Administration of Customs.
China's online retail sales register 8.6 percent growth in Q1-Q3
China will further support the development of new business formats such as cross-border e-commerce with a slew of new policy measures unveiled on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The slew of new policy measures, officially known as the Policy Measures for Promoting Steady Growth of Foreign Trade, was adopted by the State Council, or Cabinet, upon deliberation at an executive meeting held in Beijing on November 8.
In the first three quarters, China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports increased by 11.5 percent, accounting for nearly 6 percent of China's overall foreign trade.
Speaking a press conference in Beijing on Friday to interpret the slew of new policy measures, a senior official with the ministry said that China's cross-border e-commerce has strong competitiveness, and that the latest policy measures will continue to increase support for cross-border e-commerce. According to the policy measures, efforts will be made in strengthening the connection between supply and demand, improving compliance management, optimizing the industry landscape and deepening international cooperation.
"We are also actively promoting the WTO negotiations on e-commerce agreement, and we hope that the negotiations can be concluded at an earlier date. In this way, we can work with more WTO members to provide a better development environment for cross-border e-commerce," said Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen, who is also China's international trade representative, at the press conference.
The latest policy measures are part of China's ongoing efforts to promote foreign trade growth, cultivate new international competitive advantages, and achieve mutual benefits with other countries.
The country has built 22 pilot free trade zones (FTZs) covering coastal, inland and border areas. These zones contribute about 20 percent of the country's total foreign investment and import-export volume. Foreign trade in the FTZs expanded by 11.99 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2024.
In the first ten months, China's foreign goods trade rose 5.2 percent from a year ago to 36.02 trillion yuan (about 5 trillion U.S. dollars), with exports up 6.7 percent and imports up 3.2 percent, official data showed.
China to further step up support for cross-border e-commerce development
