The State Council held an executive meeting on April 6 and put forward a plan to promote the Internet Plus Circulation action plan by breaking the limitation on information infrastructure and business environment, and developing the sharing economy.
The meeting urged improvements in basic infrastructure, such as information facilities and cold chain transportation, to build an intelligent logistics system and develop the Internet of Things. It especially demanded expanding broadband construction in rural areas.
Zhao Ping, a researcher from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said that mobile shopping is becoming increasingly popular in rural areas but the information infrastructure poses a big problem for its development. More rural consumption potential can be unleashed after solving this problem, Zhao added.
She said that developing the cold chain transportation can ensure the quality of agricultural products, diversify supply, and reduce costs, thus keeping prices stable.
The executive meeting also urged breaking the limitation on business environment, such as establishing a cloud platform for business services and strengthening supervision, with the aim of creating a fair and competitive business environment. Zhao said that establishing the cloud platform for business services provides support for supply-side structural reform and can ease the burden on logistic enterprises.
In addition, the meeting proposed promoting the integration of online and offline business and accelerating the development of the sharing economy, which is a typical model of cutting circulation costs and optimizing resources through the Internet.
Data from China’s State Information Center shows that about 50 million people provided sharing economy services in the past year and it is expected to see an annual 40 percent increase in the next five years. However, experts said that the sharing economy’s healthy development needs to properly deal with the relationship between the government and the market and the government should play an adequate role.