A young woman is selling products on-line. Photo: Xubei Luo/World Bank
China’s rapid development of e-commerce has begun to reshape production and consumption patterns as well as change people’s daily lives. In 2016, the World Bank and the Alibaba Group launched a joint research initiative to examine how China has harnessed digital technologies to aid growth and expand employment opportunities through e-commerce development in rural areas. The research seeks to distill lessons and identify policy options to enhance the positive effect of e-commerce on the reduction of poverty and inequality. Emerging findings from that research show that rural e-commerce evolves from grassroots development to become a potential tool for poverty alleviation with public-private partnerships.
E-commerce has grown quickly in China. Total e-commerce trade volume increased from less than 1,000 billion yuan (US$120.8 billion) in 2004 to nearly 30,000 billion yuan (US$4.44 trillion) in 2017. While e-commerce is more developed in urban areas, online retail sales in rural areas have grown faster than the national average. From 2014 to 2017, online retail sales in rural China increased from RMB 180 billion to 1.24 trillion, a compound annual growth rate of 91%, compared to 35% nationally.
East Asia Pacific’s (EAP) strong economic performance over the past few decades has significantly benefited and empowered women in the region, bringing better health and education and greater access to economic opportunities. To celebrate International Women’s Day, we are featuring 12 women in the region who embody the advancements women have made in EAP, despite the many barriers that remain for them at work.
E-commerce is often perceived as a phenomenon of high-income countries, but the industry’s rapid growth in China demonstrates that the transition from physical to digital commerce does not necessarily demand such high levels of development.
China’s worldwide e-commerce transaction value grew from less than 1% a decade ago to over 40% now, exceeding that of France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States combined, according to a McKinsey study. In rural China, the development of e-commerce shows strong signs of clustering. The number of Taobao villages – those significantly engaged in e-commerce with a total annual e-commerce transaction volume of at least RMB 10 million and at least 100 active online shops – has increased from 20 in 2013 to 3,202 in 2018.
Distribution of Taobao Villages in China, 2014-2018
Qiulongpo Port Container Terminal in Chongqing. Photo: Li Wenyong/World Bank
The 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing concluded on a high note with a pledge of $60 billion of development assistance from China to countries in Africa – together with the $60 billion pledged 3 years ago, it means China is investing $120bn over 6 years in Africa. Most of this assistance is directed at financing infrastructure. Several African leaders were featured on local and international media, and policy makers are no doubt contemplating the various dimensions of the China-Africa relation.
As an urban dweller in Beijing, a rapidly modernizing city, my daily life would look like a science-fiction movie for people from just a few decades ago. I use my mobile phone to buy groceries, pay for meals, take photos, access the subway, and find my way to unknown places.
