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Key Players in Shanghai Discuss the Vast Potential of E-Commerce in China
Time：2016-11-08 14:17:30
Source： Global Times
The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai (AmCham Shanghai) recently held an e-commerce and digital conference to discuss the future of ecommerce in China. Scott Williams, vice president of AmCham Shanghai, predicted that the future for China's e-commerce market will be bright.
"Cross-border e-commerce is estimated to be worth $86 billion. The overall e-commerce sector in China employs 3 million people and provides, on top of that, indirectly over 20 million more jobs," said Williams.
Regarding mobile channels, the shift from websites to mobile applications is more obvious in China, with apps penetrating into every aspect of business and life services. According to reports from Nelson, Chinese people's dependency on smartphone applications to place retail orders is far higher than any other country in the world. From meal delivery services and baby products to IT and mobile goods, the country offers unlimited growth potential.
Meanwhile, Chinese social media networks continue to expand. Tencent's WeChat reported over 806 million active users this year. Williams, a foreigner, uses WeChat to stay connected to Chinese communities in major American cities. "It's very easy to connect with those communities as you join WeChat groups in all those areas," said Williams.
Yi Qian, global business development director of Alibaba Group, delivered a keynote speech on crossborder e-commerce at the conference. According to Yi, although the total value of China's import and export decreased in 2015, Chinese consumers are more eager for foreign products. In 2015, the value of China's cross-border e-commerce reached 4.8 trillion yuan ($720 billion) with 28 percent annual growth.
Alibaba Group's research team predicted that China's cross-border e-commerce will reach 12 trillion yuan by 2020. The proportion of crossborder e-commerce in China's overall import/export sector will grow from the current 19.5 percent to 37.6 percent in 2020.
"The fast growth of e-commerce will bring a lot of opportunities to those import and export companies in China," said Yi, adding that as import continues to grow in China, the market opportunity in imports to China has become bigger than its exports.
Regarding cross-border B2C, cross-border imports in 2015 was 248 billion yuan. But this figure was expected by Yi to grow to 1.5 trillion yuan through 2020, at an annual growth rate higher than 43 percent. Globally, the value of China's export B2C was 503.2 billion yuan in 2015, but it was expected to reach 2.16 trillion yuan by 2020.
"The strong export B2C helped a lot of Chinese companies to build their brands globally. There are a lot of opportunities for growth. Last year, I visited a lot of small companies. They started with one or two people, and did right by focusing on crossborder e-commerce. Now they have become publicly listed companies," said Yi.
Thus far in 2016, B2C in China accounts for about 14.8 percent of China's retail. In the US, this number is somewhere between 8 to 9 percent, expected to reach 11 percent by 2018. But in China the expectation is 19 percent.
Yi said that China's retail market will become the world's biggest this year. E-commerce has the highest penetration in China among all the countries. "That is something that nobody wants to miss," said Yi.
"Cross-border e-commerce is estimated to be worth $86 billion. The overall e-commerce sector in China employs 3 million people and provides, on top of that, indirectly over 20 million more jobs," said Williams.
Regarding mobile channels, the shift from websites to mobile applications is more obvious in China, with apps penetrating into every aspect of business and life services. According to reports from Nelson, Chinese people's dependency on smartphone applications to place retail orders is far higher than any other country in the world. From meal delivery services and baby products to IT and mobile goods, the country offers unlimited growth potential.
Meanwhile, Chinese social media networks continue to expand. Tencent's WeChat reported over 806 million active users this year. Williams, a foreigner, uses WeChat to stay connected to Chinese communities in major American cities. "It's very easy to connect with those communities as you join WeChat groups in all those areas," said Williams.
Yi Qian, global business development director of Alibaba Group, delivered a keynote speech on crossborder e-commerce at the conference. According to Yi, although the total value of China's import and export decreased in 2015, Chinese consumers are more eager for foreign products. In 2015, the value of China's cross-border e-commerce reached 4.8 trillion yuan ($720 billion) with 28 percent annual growth.
Alibaba Group's research team predicted that China's cross-border e-commerce will reach 12 trillion yuan by 2020. The proportion of crossborder e-commerce in China's overall import/export sector will grow from the current 19.5 percent to 37.6 percent in 2020.
"The fast growth of e-commerce will bring a lot of opportunities to those import and export companies in China," said Yi, adding that as import continues to grow in China, the market opportunity in imports to China has become bigger than its exports.
Regarding cross-border B2C, cross-border imports in 2015 was 248 billion yuan. But this figure was expected by Yi to grow to 1.5 trillion yuan through 2020, at an annual growth rate higher than 43 percent. Globally, the value of China's export B2C was 503.2 billion yuan in 2015, but it was expected to reach 2.16 trillion yuan by 2020.
"The strong export B2C helped a lot of Chinese companies to build their brands globally. There are a lot of opportunities for growth. Last year, I visited a lot of small companies. They started with one or two people, and did right by focusing on crossborder e-commerce. Now they have become publicly listed companies," said Yi.
Thus far in 2016, B2C in China accounts for about 14.8 percent of China's retail. In the US, this number is somewhere between 8 to 9 percent, expected to reach 11 percent by 2018. But in China the expectation is 19 percent.
Yi said that China's retail market will become the world's biggest this year. E-commerce has the highest penetration in China among all the countries. "That is something that nobody wants to miss," said Yi.
