Quoted by China News on China’s Economic Growth
On April 29, China News (the second largest news agency in China) published a series of quotes by me from an extensive interview we did a few weeks ago. One of them gathered a particularly wide response and it reads as follows:
“The speed and scale at which China is able to implement innovative technologies to address certain problems is fascinating. The large and fast-moving trade of goods within China’s huge market and its online platforms, which have become an ecosystem, are driving China’s economic growth.”
This observation is particularly important because it partly explains why China’s economy is very resilient. Over the past decade, I watched first-hand the rise of various Chinese e-commerce platforms.
Many of them continue to coexist and each one has its own place / role in the market. Taobao continues to be the largest one and offers an incredibly large range of products. But it has also developed Tmall, where all sellers are official stores, which guarantees the quality of the products. JD (Jing Dong) is well-known for its high-quality electronics and speedy delivery (of qualifying items). Others, such as Pinduoduo, VIP.com, etc. have all developed comparative strengths in various aspects.
This forms the infrastructure for a largely well-regulated national marketplaces, where sellers compete and consumers have plenty of product choices.
In the era of rampant urbanization where life is fast-paced and consumers seek instant gratification, they are prone to developing buying habits that feed the growth of shopping platforms.
Various forms of AI can improve service quality and speed, including chatbots assisting customer service staff, algorithms helping to identify personal preferences and various optimization tools.
Trading faster boosts economic growth but to do it, one requires responsive a delivery system which also creates jobs.
Chinese online trading platforms make up a skeleton and an ecosystem that can keep running smoothly at an incredible speed for as long as consumers keep buying.
This digital infrastructure boosts China’s economic growth, which is projected between 5 and 6 per cent for 2023, according to the IMF and other international institutions. It might turn out to be even stronger.
All of this shows that having a robust digital shopping infrastructure and a strong delivery system backbone can be vital for stimulating economic growth in the coming decade.
