China has become the largest online retail market for 11 consecutive years

In 2023, China will accelerate the development of the digital economy and promote the important role of e-commerce in restoring and expanding consumption, deepening international cooperation, and achieving positive results in high-quality development.

It has been learned that in 2023, China's online retail sales reached 15.42 trillion yuan, an increase of 11%, becoming the world's largest online retail market for 11 consecutive years. Among them, the proportion of online retail sales of physical goods to the total retail sales of consumer goods in society increased to 27.6%, setting a new historical high; Green, healthy, intelligent and "China-Chic" products are favored, and the sales of domestic brands account for more than 65% of the key monitored brands; Since the introduction of the policy to promote home consumption, the year-on-year growth rates of elderly friendly furniture, home theaters, and home decorations from August to December have been 372.1%, 153.3%, and 64.6%, respectively.

Industry experts said that "China-Chic" products are popular, on the one hand, because the quality of domestic brands has been significantly improved, the process design is closer to the preferences of domestic consumers, after-sales service guarantee continues to improve, and the cost performance of products continues to improve. On the other hand, after a period of development, "China-Chic" has become a fashion symbol with great cultural creativity from the beginning when traditional cultural elements were added as selling points of goods to the present when traditional aesthetics were integrated into the core of products.

At the same time, the "National Tide Fever" also set sail and attracted many foreign consumers. Hongrong is an overseas student from Vietnam. Although she has returned to Vietnam after graduation, she still often buys Chinese cosmetics, food and clothing through cross-border e-commerce platforms, including the Palace Museum Cultural Creative Lipstick, Bing Dwen Dwen, etc. Red Rong told reporters that the Dragon Year and New Year are approaching, and she is currently selecting festive decorations such as red lanterns, Spring Festival couplets, Dragon Year window decorations, auspicious characters, Dragon Year zodiac signs, as well as New Year goods such as "Three Squirrels" in the e-commerce platform's New Year goods section.

Currently, the new space for international cooperation in e-commerce in China is even broader. The person in charge of the E-commerce Department of the Ministry of Commerce introduced that in 2023, the number of "Silk Road e-commerce" partner countries will increase to 30; The 34 tasks of the Shanghai Silk Road E-commerce Cooperation Pilot Zone have been launched, and the construction of a new highland for institutional openness in e-commerce has achieved initial results; Jointly launching an initiative to strengthen e-commerce cooperation with ASEAN, contributing Chinese wisdom to global digital governance; Hold a national Global Digital Trade Expo to create a new platform for building a trade power; Shanghai, Guangxi, Shaanxi, Hainan and other regions held the ASEAN Good Things Online Shopping Festival and Central Asia Theme Day, carried out live broadcasts of envoys, and further deepened international e-commerce cooperation both online and offline; The sales revenue of imported goods on major domestic e-commerce platforms has reached 290.34 billion yuan, and consumer choices are more diverse.

Cui Weijie, Vice President of the International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, stated that the digital economy is becoming a key variable affecting world economic development, and accelerating the promotion of "Silk Road e-commerce" cooperation is timely. With the development of "Silk Road E-commerce", partner countries jointly carry out multi-level cooperation in fields such as policy communication, rule docking, industrial promotion, local cooperation, capacity building, etc., to create a favorable environment for the development of e-commerce in relevant countries, and jointly expand new areas of economic and trade cooperation of the "the Belt and Road".

Alibaba Group's President of Public Affairs, Wen Jia, stated that Alibaba has cooperated with its "Silk Road E-commerce" partner countries in multiple fields, hoping to support and promote the diversified development of partner countries in the digital economy such as product exports, cloud computing, and digital talent cultivation through Alibaba's cutting-edge technology and rich experience in the e-commerce field, and jointly build a prosperous and inclusive e-commerce Silk Road