E-commerce

Encouraging responsible consumption and production.

Encouraging responsible consumption and production to stimulate economic growth

E-commerce is one of the sectors selected for Outcome 2 of the UK-China Business Environment Programme Standards Strand: improvement in the quality of standards submitted to international standards-setting bodies.

Standards for transactional assurance can help to eliminate a lack of trust related to products and services associated and offered through online platforms. Eliminating the trust gap will boost the growth of the e-commerce sector, creating more jobs and contributing to safer e-commerce platforms.

By opening up new avenues for traders, e-commerce has a high potential to stimulate business activities which leads to opportunities for employment and hence poverty reduction, an activity which will positively contribute to gender equality and social inclusion:

Approximately 50% of online store owners in China are female, accounting for the same percentage of sales
Physical barriers to selling products can be reduced by online platforms (for example, 316 000 disabled sellers are active on Taobao with an estimated total trade volume of 1 billion GBP per annum)

The programme will lead to an enhancement in cross-border e-commerce trade between China and the UK. Chinese suppliers are becoming a significant part of the online service offering leading to closer links between Chinese and UK businesses.

Participating UK organizations

E-commerce standards in the China context

Cross-border e-commerce in China, especially B2C, is becoming more and more active with more than 1 billion products sold each month representing more than 15% of all retail sales.

Chinese suppliers are becoming a significant part of the international online service offering. For example, JD.com and Taobao.com have a combined annual income of 40% more than Amazon, while over 200,000 Chinese sellers are active on Amazon.

China’s worldwide e-commerce transaction value grew from less than 1% a decade ago to over 40% now, exceeding that of France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the United States combined. According to research, 61% of Chinese customers prefer to buy products from international suppliers on international web sites, citing the understanding that these offered better guarantees of quality than Chinese counterparts. Standards for transactional assurance can help to eliminate this trust gap and boost the growth of the e-commerce sector, creating more jobs and contributing to safer e-commerce platforms.

Despite this growth, there are still many problems facing on-line, cross border trade especially as they relate to the market competition environment and integrity of the transactions. International standards provide a means to address these problems voluntarily, setting rules on trading platforms and assurances to both buyers and sellers.

Chinese e-commerce platforms increasingly provide platforms to distribute imported goods – offering clients better access to distribution logistics and payment mechanisms, particularly in key cities involved in supply chains, including Hangzhou, Yiwu and Chengdu.

Process for joint development of proposals for international adoption

Establish a joint working group to identify areas of common ground and agree on areas for collaboration
Technical expert exchanges to develop content and plan for the introduction of new work item proposals
Post ballot assessments and follow up actions including lessons learned
Communications strategy to promote awareness on the importance of international standards