(Photo/Chinanews.com)

China General Chamber of Commerce revealed the top ten key development trends of commerce in China in a report issued on Jan. 20. The review report is an annual project which has now been issued for 16 consecutive years.

Firstly, the report disclosed that consumption is expected to remain the most significant contributor to China’s economic growth and will play a larger role in accelerating economic development in 2019, with an anticipated 9 percent increase in total retail sales of consumer goods.

A new E-Commerce Law came into force on January 1 this year, pushing all e-commerce businesses to achieve their obligations, to enable all parties to participate equitably in the market and promote integrated online and offline development.

The report noted that industries need to satisfy consumer needs in a new era of retail, in which people now pay more attention to quality, diversity and customized products and services.

The online to offline (O2O) mode has been a trend in the Chinese catering industry. Depending on artificial intelligence, blockchain and big data, the retail sector will continue to upgrade in 2019, with digital retail as an industry breakthrough.

China has shown an eagerness to increase imports by lowering tariffs six times within the last three years. An increase in imports will bring new supplies to the country, better satisfy consumer needs as well as increase domestic consumption.

Experts believe that China’s consumption upgrading is quickly becoming a new driving force for the growth of the global consumer market. The expansion of China’s import market will also provide a significant opportunity for the Chinese circulation industry.

The government also rolled out a series of measures to cut fees and taxes, to help small- and micro-sized enterprises. In the report, experts noted that general industrial and commercial enterprises would reduce their annual cost of electricity by 100 billion yuan. With such beneficial measures, small- and micro- enterprises in China will cut their operating costs substantially.

Developing e-commerce in rural areas has become a way to revitalize entire regions and lift more people from these areas out of poverty.

Last but not least, the report said that the Chinese delivery industry would depend on smart technology to upgrade the whole sector, to achieve integrated development for all companies in the industry.