The coastal city of Shenzhen has boasted about being the City of Livestream E-commerce in China with the sector expecting to knock out sales of 300 billion RMB (43.68 billion USD) by 2025, as per the latest action plan introduced by the local authority on 24 March.
Other goals set out in the document include accelerating the building of livestream e-commerce infrastructure, incubating at least 50 relevant industrial parks, and establishing “one-stop” livestream e-commerce bases which integrate livestream facilities, stage set-up, content production and product display.
Businesses within the sector including apparel, beauty, jewellery and consumer electronics are expected to benefit from the city’s doubled-down endeavours in strengthening supply chains amid the digital renovation. Efforts will be placed in supporting brands and other institutions in building their own product selection centres, pushing for closer collaboration between online retailers and departments of businesses at different levels from supply through to production and distribution.
The plan also aims to inject more talent into the livestream ecosystem. It is understood the city is set to cultivate and draw in a minimum of 100 top institutions specialising in livestream e-commerce by 2025, while fostering more than 10,000 influential live streamers. This will be achieved in partnership with established MCN agencies and educational bodies to provide live streamer training and optimising the qualification system for the newly recognised profession of livestreaming salespersons.
By introducing the model of “online traffic direction + physical consumption”, it also intends to encourage traditional wholesale businesses including, hospitality, tourism and the automotive industry to join the e-commerce party, diversifying the digital scenarios while also driving physical consumption, which would ultimately benefit the recovery of the real economy.
The move follows the announcement by Beijing last year, where the capital city revealed its plan to turn 2 to 3 local districts into “high quality” bases for livestream e-commerce by 2025. This once again proves the growing significance held by e-commerce and its practice of livestreaming in China.
Meanwhile, it also indicates the important role that e-commerce plays in creating new job opportunities in China’s labour market. As more cities start levelling up their livestream and e-commerce businesses, this will also accelerate China’s progress in the industry’s digital transformation.
