DOCSLIB.ORG

Editorial - Beyond E-Commerce the Social Case of China’S Digital Economy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Editorial - Beyond E-Commerce the Social Case of China’S Digital Economy China Perspectives 2017/4 | 2017 Grassroots Makers of Chinese Digital Economy Editorial - Beyond E-Commerce The Social Case of China’s Digital Economy Haiqing Yu Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/7452 DOI: 10.4000/chinaperspectives.7452 ISSN: 1996-4617 Publisher Centre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine Printed version Date of publication: 1 December 2017 Number of pages: 3-8 ISSN: 2070-3449 Electronic reference Haiqing Yu, « Editorial - Beyond E-Commerce », China Perspectives [Online], 2017/4 | 2017, Online since 01 December 2017, connection on 23 September 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ chinaperspectives/7452 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.7452 © All rights reserved Editorial China perspectives Beyond E-Commerce: The Social Case of China’s Digital Economy HAIQING YU his special feature brings together three original articles on Internet omy and the dominance of the US in global digital capitalism, China is finance, grassroots programmers, and an e-psychotherapy platform, poised to lead in digital productivity and innovation. This is a result of the Trespectively, to engage in the ongoing debate on China’s e-commerce state-centred approach to economic development and restructuring, with and digital economy. The three authors contribute to a rethinking of the digital media, technology, and telecommunication as the new epicentre of Chinese digital capitalism from the perspective of sociology (Nicholas Lou - economic growth and market reforms in the 2000s (Zhao 2008; Hong bere), anthropology (Ping Sun), and social psychology (Hsuan-Ying Huang). 2017a). Such a techno-economic discourse, particularly since the 2008 They pinpoint the role of commercial activities as vehicles to highlight global financial crisis, emphasises developing cutting-edge digital technolo - human agency and diversity in China’s transformations. The three articles— gies, platforms, infrastructure, and economy to ensure China’s leadership in “China’s Internet Finance and Tyrannies of Inclusion” by Loubere, “Program - emerging technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence), VR (virtual reality), ming Practices of Chinese Code Farmers” by Sun, and “Therapy Made Easy” 3D printing, drones, robotics, and driveless cars. As Yu Hong (2017a) argues, by Huang—not only provide empirical studies of particular grassroots play - the Chinese state plays a key role in fostering a sophisticated communica - ers or makers in China’s e-commerce and digital economy, but also critically tive ecosystem—a system that has been spearheaded by entrepreneurial discuss their role and agency in negotiating the complicated network of bureaucrats, transnational capitalists and their representatives within and power and knowledge to create a politics of difference in people’s daily lives. outside of China, an outward-looking middle-class, and China’s own digital The special feature contributes to the debates on Chinese digital economy champions. Among the digital champions, BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent) from a micro and meso-level analysis that is rooted in the humanities and and their competitors have been at the forefront of developing a networked social sciences. It examines the grassroots participants and makers of digital economy and being close allies to the Chinese government in pro - China’s e-commerce boom, and at the same time moves beyond the dis - moting e-entrepreneurship, e-consumerism, e-surveillance, and e-solutions cussion on e-commerce to critique the paradoxes of Chinese digital capi - to various issues and problems through big data, cloud computing, IoT (In - talism, as experienced by poor and disadvantaged individuals engulfed by ternet of Things), and an array of digital computing technologies. entrepreneurial digital loan sharks and systems of social surveillance (Lou - China is among many Asian countries (particularly Singapore, Indonesia, bere), the second-generation-migrant grassroots programmers or code India, and Korea) that have experienced exponential growth, rapid innova - farmers in small software companies in Shenzhen (Sun), and an en - tion, and broad application of digitised information, knowledge, production, trepreneurial psychotherapist whose online platform has taken on the mis - and consumption. Digital economy is characterised by the use of modern sion of constructing a psychotherapy infrastructure for an under-developed information networks and communication technologies, such as the Inter - profession (Huang). Together the three articles aim to redefine the “who” net, cloud computing, big data, IoT, and FinTech, to transform social inter - of digital economy as an unlikely collection of unimagined individuals and actions, drive productivity, stimulate innovation, and enable economic underrepresented groups; the “what” of digital economy as measured by its activities to be more flexible, agile, creative, and smart. From hardware (e.g. social and cultural impact rather than its volume of business and transac - Lenovo and Huawei) to software (AI, cloud computing, various digital pay - tion; and the “how” of digital economy in terms of the implication of and ment systems), from content (e.g. Chinese blockbusters and cultural her - impact on grassroots players in their strategies for survival. itage) to platforms (e.g. WeChat and Taobao), Chinese digital economy is In what follows, I provide a brief review of the emergence of digital econ - not simply on the rise, but is also challenging the “platform imperialism” omy in China, its incorporation into the state developmental strategy, and thesis, which argues that Western-based digital platform empires (such as the role of digital labour in forming an invisible human infrastructure vis-à- Facebook, Google, and Amazon) will continue to dominate the global dig - vis the visible digital infrastructure and platforms. Such a discussion, though ital platform markets, despite increasing competition from emerging com - by no means thorough and comprehensive, provides the backdrop for the panies and countercultural flow from non-Western countries in the discussion of the various paradoxes of Chinese digital capitalism to be ad - twenty-first century (Jin 2015). In fact, China has not only been integrated dressed in this special feature. into the global digital capitalism, but is also transforming itself from a downstream manufacturing powerhouse into an innovative nation, with The rise of China’s digital economy the Internet and digital technologies powering such a transformation and economic restructuring. It is known that China and digital capitalism are two pillars of global digital 1. Also see: John Thornhill, “China’s Digital Economy is a Global Trailblazer,” Financial Times , 21 March capitalism and that “China’s digital economy is a global trailblazer” (Schiller 2017, https://www.ft.com/content/86cbda82-0d55-11e7-b030-768954394623?mhq5j=e7 (ac - 2000). (1) Despite being a latecomer to the new playing field of digital econ - cessed on 28 October 2017). N o. 2017/4 • china perspectives 3 Editorial In China the digital economy has surged since 2015 to a 30.61% share of trade has soared and remained resilient despite an economic slowdown. As the nation’s 2016 GDP. (2) It is poised to “set the world’s digital frontier” and online sales and shopping continue to grow—not only among the middle become a leading global force in key digital areas. (3) As discussed above, the and upper middle class and affluent households in metropolitan centres but digital economy is seen by Chinese political and business leaders as a critical also among hundreds of millions of people in less-developed areas (small lever for economic restructuring that steers the country from a low-wage cities, towns, and villages), scholarship on China’s e-commerce miracle also assembly model dependent on foreign technology to an innovative nation increases, with a focus on big players, market and consumer analysis, and with the “created in China” brand (Hong 2017b; Keane 2007). It exemplifies structural and legal issues, often from disciplines in various business and a state-centred approach to digital capitalism. This approach has always law schools. characterised economic development in China. More recently we have wit - Existing scholarship on China’s digital economy and e-commerce has nessed the role of the government in laying out China’s digital future noted the phenomenal success of BAT, their competitors, and a number of through the “Internet Plus” strategy and “mass entrepreneurship and mass digital start-ups; it has examined the radical disruptions brought by the in - innovation” blueprint, which were proposed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang novative use of technologies by the so-called born-digital and grown-digital and written into the government report in 2015. Previous Five Year Plans firms represented by Yihaodian and Suning, respectively (e.g. Leong, Pan, prioritised infrastructure and technological innovation, with a focus on hard - and Liu 2016). This body of research is underpinned by a strong faith in the ware and network construction, which required expertise and capital role of ICTs (information and communication technologies) toward com - through state-funded institutions and projects. The 13th Five Year Plan munity empowerment and social innovation, in urban as well as rural (2016-2020) moves the agenda in a new direction: to “upgrade” ( shengji Taobao villages (Yue et al. 2015; Sitoh, Pan, and Cui 2014). China’s Taobao 升级 ) China’s
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Trade-Based Money Laundering: Trends and Developments
    Trade-Based Money Laundering Trends and Developments December 2020 The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an independent inter-governmental body that develops and promotes policies to protect the global financial system against money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The FATF Recommendations are recognised as the global anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) standard. For more information about the FATF, please visit www.fatf-gafi.org This document and/or any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. The goal of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (Egmont Group) is to provide a forum for financial intelligence unites (FIUs) around the world to improve co-operation in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and to foster the implementation of domestic programs in this field. For more information about the Egmont Group, please visit the website: www.egmontgroup.org Citing reference: FATF – Egmont Group (2020), Trade-based Money Laundering: Trends and Developments, FATF, Paris, France, www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/methodandtrends/documents/trade-based-money-laundering-trends-and- developments.html © 2020 FATF/OECD and Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units. All rights reserved. No reproduction or translation of this publication may be made without prior written permission. Applications for such permission, for all or part of this publication, should be made to the FATF Secretariat, 2 rue André Pascal 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France (fax: +33 1 44 30 61 37 or e-mail: [email protected]) Photo credits cover photo ©Getty Images TRADE-BASED MONEY LAUNDERING: TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS | 1 Table of Contents Acronyms 2 Executive summary 3 Key findings 3 Conclusion 5 Introduction 7 Background 7 Purpose and report structure 8 Methodology 10 Section 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Issue 1 2015
    ISSUE 1 · 2015 《中国人大》对外版 NPC National People’s Congress of China THE NATIONAL PEOPLE’S CONGRESS ADVANCES RULE OF LAW Ethnic minority deputies wave farewell on March 15 when the Third Session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) comes to an end at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Chen Wen The National People’s Congress 6 advances rule of law Contents Special Report 15 Streamlining administration is 25 ‘Internet Plus’ to fuel innova- government’s self-reform tion, development 6 The National People’s Congress 16 China sanguine on economy advances rule of law under new normal Diplomacy and Defense Report on the work of the Stand- 8 18 Pooling strength on ing Committee of the National Peo- 26 China eyes bigger global role ‘Belt and Road’ strategy ple’s Congress (excerpts) with Chinese solutions Free trade zone strategy in Zhang Dejiang stresses imple- 22 28 Defense budget 2015 lowest 13 speedy implementation mentation of ‘Four Comprehensives’ growth in 5 years 23 Prudent monetary policy still Judicial Reform in place Reform and Development China vows harsher punish- 23 Fertile soil provided for foreign 29 ment for corruption, terrorism investment 14 Slower growth target, tough- er environmental protection benefit Self-reproach is the right atti- Yuan’s full convertibility to 31 China and the world 24 tude to advance judicial reform advance 16 China sanguine on economy under new normal 8 Report on the work of the 18 Standing Committee of the Pooling strength on National People’s Congress (excerpts) ‘Belt and Road’ strategy ISSUE
    [Show full text]
  • Chinese Underground Banking and 'Daigou'
    Chinese Underground Banking and ‘Daigou’ October 2019 NAC/NECC v1.0 Purpose This document has been compiled by the National Crime Agency’s National Assessment Centre from the latest information available to the NCA regarding the abuse of Chinese Underground Banking and ‘Daigou’ for money laundering purposes. It has been produced to provide supporting information for the application by financial investigators from any force or agency for Account Freezing Orders and other orders and warrants under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. It can also be used for any other related purpose. This document is not protectively marked. Executive Summary • The transfer of funds for personal purposes out of China by Chinese citizens is tightly regulated by the Chinese government, and in all but exceptional circumstances is limited to the equivalent of USD 50,000 per year. All such transactions, without exception, are required to be carried out through a foreign exchange account opened with a Chinese bank for the purpose. The regulations nevertheless provide an accessible, legitimate and auditable mechanism for Chinese citizens to transfer funds overseas. • Chinese citizens who, for their own reasons, choose not to use the legitimate route stipulated by the Chinese government for such transactions, frequently use a form of Informal Value Transfer System (IVTS) known as ‘Underground Banking’ to carry them out instead. Evidence suggests that this practice is widespread amongst the Chinese diaspora in the UK. • Evidence from successful money laundering prosecutions in the UK has shown that Chinese Underground Banking is abused for the purposes of laundering money derived from criminal offences, by utilising cash generated from crime in the UK to settle separate and unconnected inward Underground Banking remittances to Chinese citizens in the UK.
    [Show full text]
  • A Novel Decision Making Model of the Globalizing Consumer Behavior
    A NOVEL DECISION - MAKING MODEL OF THE GLOBALIZING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: EVIDENCE FROM CHINESE MIDDLE - CLASS CONSUMERS WHO PURCHASE LUXURY GOODS FROM OVERSEAS MARKETS Presented by Yang Liu Southern New Hampshire University 2500 North River Road, Manchester, New Hampshire 03106, USA Dissertation Committee: Dr. Aysun Ficici, Chair Professor of International Business and Strategy Dr. Massood Samii Professor of International Business Dr. Tej Dhakar Professor of Management Science Dr. Ling Ling Wang Assistant Professor of International Business Worcester State University 1 Dedication I would like to dedicate my dissertation to my grandparents who raised me up and taught me perseverance. I would also like to dedicate my dissertation to my parents who encourage me to pursue this path, always support me, and teach me to be principled, ethical and intellectual. Finally, I would like to dedicate my dissertation to my friend, Wei Liu who through his giftedness accompanied me in the hard times during this journey. 3 Acknowledgments I would like to thank my Dissertation Committee Chair, Professor Aysun Ficici who has supported me from the very beginning of my doctoral journey. As my Dissertation Committee Chair, she guided me structurally both qualitatively and quantitatively through her deep knowledge in variety of subject areas, who also stayed with me after hours to work on my dissertation with me. She taught me how to be a good researcher, a good writer, and an academician. I would like to thank Professor Tej Dhakar for his valuable assistance in providing me feedback in my quantitative research. I would like to thank Professor Massood Samii for guiding me in the process and sharing his deep knowledge in the field of strategy.
    [Show full text]
  • China's Connected Consumers
    China’s Connected Consumers When 10,000 Chinese shop... Insights from a 2015 survey kpmg.com/cn In association with Contents Did you Executive Market know? Summary landscape 01 03 05 The luxury Cross-border e-commerce shopping – shopper – The global The journey is a Chinese two-way street luxury buyer 27 45 Online payments – Non-bank payment systems on the rise 55 © 2015 KPMG, a Hong Kong partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. Contents © 2015 KPMG, a Hong Kong partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. 1 China’s Connected Consumers 2015 Did you know? • Online confidence is booming! 45 percent of luxury online shoppers now buy over half of their luxury goods online. We expect 50 percent of China’s domestic luxury consumption will be generated online by 2020. • Import duties reductions combined with brands’ recent moves to realign prices between overseas and China will boost China domestic full-price e-commerce, and challenge overseas websites. • From reviewing social media content, we noticed the emergence of retailer generated content alongside key opinion leaders’ and user-generated content. Brands need to adapt and publish more relevant and consumer-centric digital content or risk seeing their brand image diluted. • Although they remain value-driven, Chinese consumers – especially younger generations – are less price obsessed. This opens new opportunities for full price e-commerce for premium and luxury brands.
    [Show full text]
  • The Chinese Economy Continuing Its Moderate Recovery -The Focus Is On
    Mizuho Economic Outlook & Analysis October 1, 2020 The Chinese economy continuing its moderate recovery The focus is on expanding domestic demand and enhancing innovation capability < Summary > ◆ The Chinese economy is recovering rapidly from the downturn because of the spread of COVID-19 infections. Behind the quick recovery are (a) an early containment of the spread of infections, (b) a rise in special demand for medical supplies and communication equipment, and (c) policy support such as infrastructure investment. ◆ Going forward, while special demand and the temporary policy effects will gradually diminish, the Chinese economy is expected to continue a moderate recovery with the support of infrastructure investment. However, there exist downside risks due to a resurgence of COVID-19 infections and a deterioration of the employment environment. ◆ With short-term economic stability on the horizon, the Chinese government has stepped up its efforts to address medium and long-term problems. In the wake of rising uncertainties in the external environment, expanding domestic demand and improving innovation capabilities have become important policy challenges. Mizuho Research Institute Ltd. Yoshino Tamai, Senior Economist China Unit, Research Department - Asia Mizuho Research Institute Ltd. [email protected] This publication is compiled solely for the purpose of providing readers with information on a free- of-charge basis and is in no way meant to solicit transactions. Although this publication is compiled on the basis of sources which we believe to be reliable and correct, Mizuho Research Institute does not warrant its accuracy and certainty. Readers are requested to exercise their own judgment in the use of this publication.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Governance in Contemporary China: Popular Culture, Digital Technology, and the State
    ! ! ! ! CULTURAL GOVERNANCE IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA: POPULAR CULTURE, DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, AND THE STATE BY LUZHOU LI DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communications and Media in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Emeritus John Nerone, Chair Assistant Professor Amanda Ciafone Professor Emeritus Dan Schiller Professor Kent Ono, University of Utah ii ABSTRACT This dissertation is a study of the historical formation and transformation of the Chinese online audiovisual industry under forces of strategic political calculations, expanding market relations, and growing social participation, and the cultural ramifications of this process, especially the kind of transformations digital technologies have wrought on the state-TV-station-centered mode of cultural production/distribution and regulatory apparatuses. Through this case, the project aims to theorize the changing mode of cultural governance of post-socialist regimes in the context of digital capitalism. Using mixed methods of documentary research, interviews with industry practitioners, participant observations of trade fairs/festivals, and critical discourse analyses of popular cultural texts, the study finds that the traditional broadcasting and the online video sectors are structured along two different political economic mechanisms. While the former is dominated by domestic capital and heavily regulated by state agencies, the latter is supported by transnational capital and less regulated. Digital technologies coupled with transnational capital thus generate new cultural flows, processes, and practices, which produces a heterogeneous and contested cultural sphere in the digital environment that substantially differs from the one created by traditional television.
    [Show full text]
  • Chinese Underground Banking and 'Daigou'
    Chinese Underground Banking and ‘Daigou’ October 2019 NAC/NECC v1.0 Purpose This document has been compiled by the National Crime Agency’s National Assessment Centre from the latest information available to the NCA regarding the abuse of Chinese Underground Banking and ‘Daigou’ for money laundering purposes. It has been produced to provide supporting information for the application by financial investigators from any force or agency for Account Freezing Orders and other orders and warrants under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. It can also be used for any other related purpose. This document is not protectively marked. Executive Summary • The transfer of funds for personal purposes out of China by Chinese citizens is tightly regulated by the Chinese government, and in all but exceptional circumstances is limited to the equivalent of USD 50,000 per year. All such transactions, without exception, are required to be carried out through a foreign exchange account opened with a Chinese bank for the purpose. The regulations nevertheless provide an accessible, legitimate and auditable mechanism for Chinese citizens to transfer funds overseas. • Chinese citizens who, for their own reasons, choose not to use the legitimate route stipulated by the Chinese government for such transactions, frequently use a form of Informal Value Transfer System (IVTS) known as ‘Underground Banking’ to carry them out instead. Evidence suggests that this practice is widespread amongst the Chinese diaspora in the UK. • Evidence from successful money laundering prosecutions in the UK has shown that Chinese Underground Banking is abused for the purposes of laundering money derived from criminal offences, by utilising cash generated from crime in the UK to settle separate and unconnected inward Underground Banking remittances to Chinese citizens in the UK.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study of Mainland China–Hong Kong Daigou (Cross-Border Shopping Services on Global Consumer Goods)
    International Journal of Communication 12(2018), 4052–4065 1932–8036/20180005 Im/materializing Cross-Border Mobility: A Study of Mainland China–Hong Kong Daigou (Cross-Border Shopping ServiCes on Global Consumer Goods) XIE ZHUOXIAO The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China The mobilities facilitated by copresent modalities of media have attracted increasing attention. Despite noting multimode mobilities, existing studies rarely specify in the digital context how physical, digital, or virtual mobility and the meanings created by the mobility can be two sides of one coin of mobility politics. This article depicts mobility practices of mainland-China-to–Hong Kong cross-border shoppers known as daigou. I adopt mediated corporeal mobilities to understand the apparatus of uneven mobilities—which refers to the broad emergent cluster of ways of performing and signifying corporeal mobilities in which the mobility of people, material artifacts, and data are themselves experienced and articulated through mobile technology. I argue that mediated corporeal mobilities anchor the unbalanced power relationship in daigou, which manifest in the differential performance of corporeal mobilities and hierarchical classification of people’s corporeal mobilities. Keywords: mediated mobilities, daigou, cross border, mobility practices, mainland China and Hong Kong, mobility politics Attending to mobile communication and digitization, an increasing number of researchers are concerned with the mobilities facilitated by copresent modalities of media while engaging
    [Show full text]
  • Book of Abstracts Here
    Page 1 22nd Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia Abstracts 22nd Biennial Conference of the ASAA The University of Sydney sydney.edu.au/events/asaa2018 Area Studies and Beyond – Abstracts 22nd Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) 3 - 5 July 2018 Contents Welcome from the ASAA President ii Welcome from the Conference Convenor iii Sub-Regional Keynote Abstracts 1 Roundtable Abstracts 3 Speaker Abstracts (alphabetical by last name) Abdullah – Asad 4 Bacon – Bytheway 12 Campbell – Curato 21 Da-Anoy – Dutta 37 Edwards – Erlina 44 Fabrizio – Fushiki 46 Galang – Gupta 53 Hack – Hyslop 62 Inwald – I-Ying 73 Jacka – Jung 74 Kam – Kwek 77 Lahiri-Dutt - Luzzu 86 Ma – Myutel 98 Abstracts Nagesh – Nur 112 O’Brien – Oshiro 120 Pak – Putra 121 Rahim – Rungmanee 132 Saito – Swinbank 139 Tadem – Twomey 155 Uabumrungjit – Utama 164 Vanderstaay – Vu 164 Wahyuningrum – Wu 167 Xiaoxuan – Xu 179 Yadav – Yusuke 179 Zabrovskaia – Zhou 186 22nd Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia Association of Asian Studies 22nd Biennial Conference of the i Page i2 Welcome from the ASAA President Welcome to the 22nd biennial Asian Studies Association of Australia Conference Since 1976, ASAA and its conferences have been at the centre of Asian engagement in Australia. Over these 42 years, Asian Studies and Asian engagement have moved from the periphery of the Australian academy and public discourse to the very heart. We stand on the shoulders of those who have presented before us and brought their insight to the attention of policy makers and the next generation of students.
    [Show full text]
  • Travel Retail Market in Hainan FTP – Towards a Golden Future
    Travel Retail Market in Hainan FTP – Towards A Golden Future A Travel Retail White Paper May 2021 By KPMG China and The Moodie Davitt Report © 2021 KPMG Advisory (China) Limited, a limited liability company in China and a member firm of the KPMG global organisation of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited, a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved. Printed in China. The KPMG name and logo are trademarks used under license by the independent member firms of the KPMG global organisation. 0 Foreword It is a great pleasure for KPMG China and The Moodie Davitt Report to jointly publish this white paper on the Hainan Free Trade Port’s offshore duty-free sector to mark the opening of the inaugural China International Consumer Products Expo. The Expo is a landmark event in the ambitious development of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) , a project of national and regional importance. The rapid development of the offshore duty-free sector in Hainan province since 2011 has played a key role in Hainan’s growing allure and status as an international tourism consumption centre. By the end of 2020, the offshore duty-free business was worth approximately USD5 billion, boosted by the introduction of an enhanced shopping policy in July 2020, which gave tremendous impetus to brands in the channel as other duty-free markets fell into a deep pandemic-driven slump. The story of Hainan FTP’s offshore duty-free industry represents a triumph of policy, a pro-business, pro-consumer approach that is core to President Xi Jinping’s vision of ‘dual circulation’ and of maximising domestic consumption – in this case by repatriating overseas travel shopping to China.
    [Show full text]
  • E-Commerce in China a Guide for Australian Business
    E-COMMERCE IN CHINA A GUIDE FOR AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS Using ChAFTA to sell premium Australian products JUNE 2015 E-COMMERCE IN CHINA: A GUIDE FOR AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS 1 DISCLAIMER This report has been prepared as a general overview and is intended to be a guide, providing a starting point for exporters. It is not intended to provide exhaustive coverage of the topic. The information herein is made available on the understanding that the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) is not providing legal, financial or any other form of professional advice. Therefore, while all care has been taken in the preparation of this report, Austrade does not accept responsibility for any losses suffered by persons relying on the information contained in this report or arising from any error or omission in the report. Any person relying on this information does so entirely at their own discretion and risk. Austrade strongly recommends the reader obtain independent legal, financial and any other form of professional advice prior to acting on this information. Austrade assumes no responsibility for any company, product or service mentioned in this document, for any materials provided in relation to such products, nor for any act or omission of any business connected with such products and services. Currency conversions from Chinese Renminbi to Australian dollars ar e historical and should be considered indicative only. The Reserve Bank of Australia provides data on current and historical Australian dollar exchange rates with major currencies at http://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/frequency/exchange-rates.html Austrade gratefully thanks the e-commerce marketplaces and experts who provided information for this report and acknowledges the assistance and contribution of Dezan Shira and Associates.
    [Show full text]