China is considering development of a framework to speed deployment of
electronic commerce and step up its digital economy, the China Daily
reported.
“China’s e-commerce is still in an embryonic and exploratory stage,” Ministry
of Information Industry official Zhang Baotai was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.
Developing e-commerce in China would be a colossal project requiring the
formulation of new laws, policies and technical skills, Zhang told the
newspaper.
Zhang said China would “blaze its own trail” in developing e-commerce using
existing network facilities. The ministry has increased co-operation with
other government departments to draft standards and ensure the orderly growth
of e-commerce, the newspaper said.
Only 10 percent of China’s state-run firms run computer networks which can be
used for digital business, it quoted Rong Zhaoxia, an official in the State
Economic and Trade Commission’s Trade Department, as saying.
The Ministry of Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC) runs China’s first
large-scale e-commerce Web site for foreign firms interested
in investing in China. MOFTEC established the China International Electronic
Commerce Centre in 1996 to research and promote digital business.
