Seven Chinese government departments have issued a joint notice outlining a "Five Excellences" initiative for quality e-commerce development, according to a statement released on October 10 by the Ministry of Commerce website.

The notice was jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the State Post Bureau.

The initiative calls for coordinated efforts to rectify disorderly and irrational competition in the e-commerce sector. It emphasizes strengthening oversight and law enforcement in e-commerce, correcting practices such as "automatic price matching" and "lowest price across the entire network" that constitute disorderly competition, and regulating platform commission structures and merchant rating rules to prevent the squeezing of quality merchants' survival space.

Building Quality E-Commerce Entities

Regarding efforts to promote quality among e-commerce platforms, the notice calls for strengthening the cultivation of quality e-commerce entities. It encourages the use of exhibition platforms and events to organize e-commerce platforms in publicly releasing commitments and action plans focused on improving product and service quality, publishing platform quality governance reports, and proactively accepting public oversight to build a "main battlefield" for quality e-commerce development.

The notice also calls for leveraging the leading, radiating, and quality education roles of national e-commerce demonstration bases, carrying out demonstration creation with quality as the guiding principle, strengthening credit management and categorized guidance, and cultivating a group of quality benchmark platforms that operate with integrity.

Establishing a Full-Chain Quality Control System

The notice guides e-commerce platforms to establish a chief quality officer system, urging systematic and structured construction of quality management systems and improvement of online service quality evaluation systems. It calls for deepening government data verification capabilities, supporting the provision of business license information verification and comparison services for merchants on platforms to improve platform qualification review and risk prevention efficiency.

It also promotes the use of electronic authentication services provided by trustworthy service providers on e-commerce platforms to improve service quality and enhance the reliability and convenience of contract signing.

Supporting Merchants in Quality Innovation

Regarding support for various merchants in pursuing quality innovation, the notice proposes deepening the implementation of the "Digital Commerce for Agriculture" initiative, high-quality rural e-commerce development, and the "Internet Plus" agricultural products going to market project. It calls for improving county-level service facilities on e-commerce platforms, enhancing localized service capabilities, increasing the supply of green, organic, premium, specialty, and geographically indicated agricultural products, developing regional public brands for agricultural products, and connecting with premium agricultural brand cultivation programs so that more quality goods from the source reach consumers directly.

The notice also calls for launching an "E-Commerce Plus Industrial Belt" cultivation initiative, encouraging local governments to plan and establish e-commerce product selection centers, and focusing on supporting small and medium-sized sellers with core technologies and original designs to connect with e-commerce channels and enhance brand awareness.

It encourages e-commerce platforms to leverage channels such as direct order procurement and dedicated sections for premium export products to support foreign trade enterprises in expanding into the domestic market and boost consumption of premium export goods.

Facilitating Quality Choices for Consumers

Regarding efforts to facilitate quality choices for consumers, the notice specifies that around consumption events such as "618" and "Double 11," collaborative efforts should be made to strengthen guidance and regulation of e-commerce platforms and continuously create a safe and reassuring online consumption environment.

It supports cooperation between e-commerce platforms, brands, commercial complexes, and commercial streets to utilize artificial intelligence and other new technologies to build quality consumption experience centers that integrate display, experience, transactions, and services, enhancing consumers' intuitive perception of quality differences.

The notice encourages financial institutions to cooperate with e-commerce platforms in a regulated manner, enrich consumer finance products and services, increase financial support for high-quality goods and services, and better meet residents' quality consumption needs.

Promoting Quality Competition in Silk Road E-Commerce

Regarding efforts to guide Silk Road e-commerce toward quality competition, the notice proposes cultivating and promoting the "Silk Road Cloud Products" brand. It calls for organizing e-commerce platforms and quality merchants to actively participate in the "Silk Road E-Commerce Benefits the World" campaign and promote series brands such as African Treasures, ASEAN Treasures, SCO Cloud Products, and Buy in BRICS.

Strengthening Standards for Long-Term Quality Protection

Regarding efforts to strengthen norms and standards for long-term quality protection, the notice mentions launching an e-commerce standards benefit enterprise action, strengthening the construction of quality e-commerce-related standards systems, and accelerating standard development focused on e-commerce product and service provision and quality assurance to promote industry standardization and regulated development.

The notice calls for coordinated rectification of disorderly and irrational competition. It emphasizes strengthening oversight and law enforcement in e-commerce, correcting disorderly competitive behaviors such as "automatic price matching" and "lowest price across the entire network" on e-commerce platforms, and regulating platform commission structures and merchant rating rules to prevent the squeezing of quality merchants' survival space.

It also calls for cracking down on illegal and non-compliant behaviors such as fake orders and review manipulation. The notice calls for establishing dialogue and communication mechanisms between e-commerce platforms and small and medium-sized merchants to coordinate solutions to operational difficulties and bottlenecks and promote mutually beneficial development for all parties.