East China province gets poised for mid-year shopping spree via livestreaming

JINAN, June 18 (Xinhua) — E-commerce and livestreaming are propelling local products in east China’s Shandong Province, including Hanfu clothing and agricultural goods, to national and even international prominence during the country’s mid-year shopping spree, known as the “618” shopping festival.

This digital revolution has revitalized Shandong’s rural areas and fostered cultural exchanges, showcasing its rich heritage and innovation on a global stage.

“We launched two new products, stocking over 100,000 bottles in anticipation of the mid-year shopping festival that took place on June 18,” said Zhao Dongming, co-founder of a horticultural company in Shandong. The company’s promotion activities, which began on June 1, will run until Tuesday, with more than 5,000 e-commerce anchors participating in the online shopping extravaganza.

A data report from Douyin’s e-commerce department reveals that over the past year, over 2 billion orders of Shandong products were placed on the social media platform, China’s version of TikTok, marking a 42-percent increase year on year. Among these, 13.17 million livestreaming shows contributed more than a half of the total sales volume.

Multiple local commodities, including Qingdao beer, Hanfu clothing made in Caoxian County, seafood and characteristic pancakes, have stepped into the spotlight through livestreaming, becoming Shandong’s new iconic symbols.

“We primarily sell Shouguang’s agricultural products through livestreaming. Once we started, several types of seeds sold out almost immediately,” said Li Weipeng, founder of Duoka horticultural company in Shouguang City. He noted that livestreaming has not only uncovered diverse consumer demands but also boosted sales of seeds, fertilizers, nutrient-rich soil, and other agricultural products.

“In addition to the surge in orders, livestreaming has boosted the local agriculture and allowed a broader audience to witness the mode of our agricultural development,” Li added.

Liu Bingxin, director of the Shouguang municipal business comprehensive service center, said that the city has been promoting the integration of agriculture with the digital sector, supplying about one million tonnes of vegetables to places across the country annually through e-commerce, with pumpkins among the top online sellers.

Shandong, rich in natural and cultural resources, has leveraged e-commerce to enhance its cultural influence and achieve significant economic growth.

In the first quarter of this year, Caoxian County, also dubbed as “the center of Hanfu,” recorded over 2,400 enterprises involved in the Hanfu supply chain and more than 14,400 online Hanfu stores.

Data from Pinduoduo, a leading Chinese online retailer, shows that of the top 2,000 online stores for Hanfu sales across China, some 1,200 are located in Caoxian County.

“With Hanfu designs for summer made, we will spare no effort in promoting them through livestreaming shows,” said Yao Chixing, general manager of a Hanfu brand called “Luoruyan” in Caoxian County.

Yao added that during this year’s Spring Festival holiday, their daily sales on Douyin exceeded one million yuan (about 140,000 U.S. dollars). For the upcoming “618” shopping festival, the company has scheduled multiple livestreaming shows to better meet the sales peaks.

“We can sell around 500 pieces of Hanfu clothing in our daily four-hour livestream session,” said Ren Yafeng, owner of an online Hanfu store in the county, noting that foreign markets, like Malaysia, Singapore, and some European countries, are the main destinations for his exports.

With a clear increase in foreign trade orders, Hanfu is emerging as a catalyst for cultural exchanges. “The fusion of Oriental and Western cultures is the future of Hanfu design,” said Chen Long, a local Hanfu designer in Caoxian.

Shandong is undergoing an e-commerce boom. Its online retail sales surpassed 770 billion yuan in 2023, with a robust 11-percent increase year on year, according to Guo Hongwei, an official with the provincial department of commerce.

Looking ahead, the province plans to seize more opportunities with e-commerce platforms, expand their cooperation, and better drive the integration of the real and digital economies, Guo added.  ■