Recently, six government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, issued the "Guiding Opinions on Better Serving the Real Economy and Promoting High-Quality Development of E-commerce" (hereinafter referred to as as the "Opinions"). This document establishes a policy framework for deep integration between e-commerce and the real economy through 16 targeted measures. Covering areas from upgrading quality consumption to the deep empowerment of "Artificial Intelligence + E-commerce," from smoothing the production-sales cycle between urban and rural areas to reinforcing platform governance responsibilities, the "Opinions" directly address the key issue of how e-commerce can better serve the real economy, comprehensively outlining a roadmap for the high-quality development of the e-commerce sector.

E-commerce is rooted in and has grown alongside the real economy. It is not only a vital component of the real economy but also a crucial lever for empowering it. Data shows that China's online retail market scale has ranked first globally for 13 consecutive years. In 2025, the national online retail sales approached 16 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.6% compared to the previous year. After years of rapid development, e-commerce has deeply integrated into all aspects of economic and social life, evolving from an initial "supplementary channel" to a "mainstream front."

With "serving the real economy" as its core directive, the "Opinions" aim to steer e-commerce transformation from being "traffic-driven" to "value-driven." Essentially, this involves using digital empowerment to remove blockages in production, distribution, and consumption, thereby enhancing economic operational efficiency and fostering a virtuous economic ecosystem where "digital empowers the real economy and the real economy supports digital."

High-quality e-commerce development requires empowerment and efficiency gains through "digital-real integration." For instance, the false eyelash industry in Pingdu, Qingdao, Shandong, leveraged e-commerce platform traffic support to upgrade from low-end contract manufacturing to producing global hit products, spurring the development of the local beauty industry cluster. Similarly, small commodities from Yiwu, Zhejiang, utilizing tools like "AI Shopkeepers," have achieved multilingual services, design optimization, and logistics upgrades, enabling them to go global, build their brands, and demonstrate how "small products can leverage large markets." Provisions in the "Opinions" such as "assisting SMEs in transformation" and "cultivating industrial e-commerce" are designed to use e-commerce empowerment to increase exposure for quality domestic goods, rural specialties, and artisan products. This approach aims to achieve benefits where "consumers get good value, businesses achieve development, and industries undergo upgrading," positioning e-commerce as a "catalyst" for improving quality and efficiency in real industries.

High-quality e-commerce development necessitates strengthening innovation leadership and deepening the application of digital technologies. The "Opinions" support the application of new models like "AI + E-commerce." This is not only crucial for the e-commerce industry's own upgrade but also further enhances the operational efficiency of the overall economy by empowering the real economy with digital technology. Furthermore, the "Opinions" propose "optimizing digital life services," encouraging e-commerce platforms to extend from mere commodity transactions to service provision, expanding online-offline integrated consumption scenarios, and improving a convenient and beneficial digital service system. These deployments, driven by technological innovation for industrial upgrade and model innovation for optimized service supply, focus on enhancing the innovation capability and core competitiveness of the e-commerce industry. They also aim to smooth economic circulation and stimulate consumption potential, continuously promoting the deep integration of the digital and real economies.

High-quality e-commerce development is inseparable from a sound ecosystem. The "Opinions" propose reinforcing the primary responsibility of platforms and strengthening regular supervision. By addressing issues such as cut-throat low-price competition and counterfeit products, and improving the market supervision system, the goal is to create a fair and orderly market environment. This not only protects consumer rights and boosts consumption confidence but also guides market players to focus on quality and innovation, avoiding resource waste and achieving sustainable industry development. This provides a stable market environment for e-commerce to better serve the real economy.

The outline for the 15th Five-Year Plan points out the need to "promote the deep integration of the real economy and the digital economy." Continuously advancing the high-quality development of e-commerce to better serve the consolidation and growth of the real economy will inject more powerful momentum into advancing Chinese modernization.