China's e-commerce drives consumption growth in first 11 months

China's e-commerce sector sustained strong momentum as a key driver of consumer spending and economic activity in the first 11 months of this year, with digital products and online services leading the expansion, the Ministry of Commerce reported Tuesday.

Data shows that online retail sales continued to elevate product quality and tap into domestic demand potential. Sales of digital goods on major monitored platforms rose 8.2 percent, with smart wearables and smart robots each posting double-digit growth. Consumption of online services recorded a robust increase of 21.7 percent.

E-commerce platforms also played a central role in fostering innovation-led development. Rural online retail sales tracked by commercial big data climbed 9.8 percent from January through November.

Platforms have further solidified their position as key innovators, with average research and development intensity among leading platforms hitting 8.3 percent in the first three quarters, a level that places China among global leaders in fields such as AI cloud services and proprietary text-to-video and text-to-image large language models.

In addition, the "Silk Road E-commerce" initiative deepened international cooperation and mutual benefit. The nationwide "Silk Road Cloud Products" e-commerce promotion campaign helped lift import retail sales on monitored platforms by 5.6 percent during the first 11 months, reinforcing the role of e‑commerce as a bridge between domestic and international consumer markets.

China's e-commerce drives consumption growth in first 11 months

Enterprises from the United States are welcome to seize the development opportunities in China and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with the country, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said in Beijing on Sunday.

He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when meeting with a delegation of the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC).

Noting that China-U.S. ties are the world's most important bilateral relations, He said it is hoped that the USCBC will continue to play its role as a bridge to promote friendly exchanges and the steady and healthy development of economic and trade relations between China and the United States.

It is also hoped that U.S. enterprises can fully seize the development opportunities in China, make good use of the potential of the Chinese market, and inject more stability and positive energy into China-U.S. economic and trade relations, He added.

Rajesh Subramaniam, board chair of the USCBC, Sean Stein, president of the USCBC, and other members from the delegation noted that the U.S. business sector is optimistic about China's economic development prospects. They expressed the willingness to further explore the Chinese market, play an active role, and continuously deepen the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

U.S. enterprises are welcome to seize development opportunities in China: vice premier