E-commerce is often perceived as a phenomenon of high-income countries, but the industry’s rapid growth in China demonstrates that the transition from physical to digital commerce does not necessarily demand such high levels of development.

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 United Kingdom, and the United States combined, according to a McKinsey study. In rural China, the development of e-commerce shows strong signs of clustering. The number of Taobao villages – those significantly engaged in e-commerce with a total annual e-commerce transaction volume of at least RMB 10 million and at least 100 active online shops – has increased from 20 in 2013 to 3,202 in 2018. A joint research initiative between the World Bank and the Alibaba Group is examining how China has harnessed digital technologies to aid growth... — blog.wb.org/blogs