In recent years, the rapid development of digital technologies represented by cloud computing, Big Data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, as marked by Covid 19 has spawned new areas of e-commerce services. [1] E-commerce took a 5-year leap forward as a result of the pandemic, and delivery services in particular are benefiting as more consumers shop online. [2] Meituan Dianping, China’s largest on-demand delivery service, reported a net profit of 2.2 billion yuan (around $330 million) in 2021, and rivals JD.com and Alibaba also reported strong results. The pandemic has accelerated the online migration of restaurants and food delivery increased by more than 65% in 2021. E-commerce super platforms have especially capitalized on your supply chain and technology capabilities to leverage this trend and ensure continuous supply to consumers. In the coming years, the proliferation of 5G, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, VR and AR offer further application opportunities and exponential growth for Chinese e-commerce. [3]

As of December 2021, the size of China’s online shopping users reached 840 million, with a rate of increase of 7.67% from December 2020. [4] 2021 online sales growth rate exceeded 10%, and online retail sales exceeded 12 trillion yuan (around $1.78 trillion). From January to April 2022, online retail sales have reached 3.87 trillion yuan (around $0.57 trillion), increasing 3.3% year-on-year. By 2023, online retail sales will reach $6.17 trillion, accounting for 22.3% of overall retail sales. [5] In 2022, the US e-commerce industry is expected to reach $875 billion, a little over a third of China’s. After China and the United States, the United Kingdom is the third-largest e-commerce market, accounting for 4.8% of retail e-commerce sales. The United Kingdom is followed by Japan (3%) and South Korea (2.5%).

The Chinese economy has overcome many difficult challenges both internally and externally and continues to forge ahead on the path of high-quality development. [6] The digital economy, represented by e-commerce, has made progress and played an important role in promoting domestic economic and social development. One of the key points of China’s e-commerce that distinguishes this industry from the western market falls on the development of rural areas. Looking ahead, with the further improvement of digital infrastructure in rural areas and the successive introduction of national policies to help the poor, rural e-commerce has become the main grip to help farmers and promote agriculture, and rural e-commerce will usher in a period of vigorous development. As the new ecology of cross-border e-commerce services begins to take shape, logistics and supply chain services, cross-border e-commerce third-party payment, cross-border e-commerce consumer financial services, and overseas marketing and promotion services are becoming more and more sophisticated and innovative, and several comprehensive cross-border e-commerce supply chain service providers will emerge in the future.