China has issued new guidance to promote the “high-quality development” of its e-commerce sector, outlining measures to strengthen platform governance and competition enforcement amid growing external scrutiny over regulation of the rapidly expanding industry.
The guidance, titled Better Serving the Real Economy and Promoting the High-Quality Development of E-Commerce, was published on Monday by the Ministry of Commerce, or Mofcom, together with five other government departments. It sets out 16 measures across five areas, including cross-border business expansion, platform governance, competition enforcement, technological innovation, and support for small and medium-sized enterprises and rural e-commerce.
The issuance comes amid growing scrutiny from abroad, with European lawmakers raising concerns about the impact of low-value imports from Chinese e-commerce platforms. Following a visit to China from March 31 to April 2, members of the European Parliament warned about product safety, customs compliance and weak platform oversight, and urged Chinese platforms and authorities to respect the EU’s digital and consumer-protection rules.
Role of E-Commerce and Antitrust Enforcement
An accompanying interpretation from Mofcom’s e-commerce department stresses that e-commerce is both a key part of the real economy and a tool to upgrade it. Authorities said China has remained the world’s largest online retail market for 13 consecutive years, with about 26 million merchants and 3.2 billion consumers globally.
The guidance states that competition enforcement will be strengthened, with authorities stepping up action against monopoly agreements and abuses of market dominance, addressing aggressive pricing practices and improving product-quality supervision, including higher rates of random inspections for goods sold online.
Support for Exports and Cross-Border Trade
The document introduces measures to support Chinese e-commerce companies in expanding overseas, with a focus on compliance and risk management. It also calls for authorities to “actively conduct foreign engagements and safeguard companies’ legitimate rights and interests overseas.”
Authorities also pledged to align rules on personal data protection and cross-border data flows, and to advance participation in international agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which sets rules on trade and digital commerce, and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, which focuses on data governance.
The guidance also focuses on cross-border business development and regulatory alignment. Officials said they will expand pilot zones, international warehouses and logistics capacity across sea, air and rail. Separately, the policy supports exports by encouraging e-commerce companies to expand high-quality digital services abroad, and it supports imports by encouraging companies to build overseas direct sourcing bases for premium and specialty products.
Platforms, Data and Innovation
Platform governance is another key pillar. Regulators will require clearer and more transparent platform rules, stronger intellectual property protection, and improved safeguards for merchants and workers, alongside stricter data-security obligations and more responsible algorithm design.
Authorities also emphasized innovation, calling for wider adoption of artificial intelligence in e-commerce and deeper integration between online and offline retail. Measures to support SMEs, rural e-commerce and “industrial e-commerce” are intended to strengthen supply chains and reduce digital transformation costs.
The guidance, published by Mofcom together with the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and three other agencies, frames these steps as part of a broader effort to balance development and regulation, efficiency and fairness, and innovation with risk control.
Source: MLex
