Taobao E-Commerce & Urbanization in China
Taobao E-Commerce & Urbanization in China
1. Summary of Ali's Research Report on “Taobao Villages” published in 2014, data/statistics up to Dec 2013
What is a Taobao Village?
a village can be designated as a Taobao Village when:
1) it is an administrative village in a rural area
2) the yearly E-commerce transaction within the village area amounts to over 10 million RMB
3) numbers of active online stores 100+, or that the number is more than 10% of the number of village's inhabiting households
Facts and Current Situations
－The number of Tao Bao villages at to Dec, 2013: 212 (it only took 3 years for the number to go from 1 to over 200)
－The top 10 provinces of high distribution of Taobao villages:
Fujian, Guangdong, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan, Tianjing, Zhejiang
－First year that Taobao villages appears in Middle-eastern China：
Sichuan, Henan, Hubei
－Active online stores in Taobao villages over 70,000. Brings 280,000 direct employment opportunities
－First groups of Taobao Towns (19) -（a Taobao town is a town in which more than 3 Taobao villages exist.) Atm there are 6 in Zhejiang, 5 in Guangdong, 2 in Fujian, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Hebei.
Impacts:
－ increasing use of wifi and internet in rural areas. Some towns are becoming digitalized BEFORE becoming fully industrialized.
(an increase of 1.88 million internet users in rural areas from Dec 2013 to Dec 2014)
－ the rising economic opportunities attract urban transplants to move back to their native towns/villages
－ increasing average income for inhabitants in Taobao Villages (Exp: the average yearly income for inhabitants in Dong Feng village, Jiangsu is 29,800 RMB, 1.19 times higher than that of the whole province's)
－ protect the village/town's existing industries of long-standing history
2. From Taobao Villages (TBV) to Taobao Towns (TBT)
What is a Taobao Town?
a town/village/communal district where more than 3 Taobao villages exist, which means:
1) it is an administrative town in a rural area
2) more than 30 million-rmb E-commerce transaction every year
3 )Numbers of active online stores must be over 300, or that the number is larger than 10% of the number of the town's inhabiting households
- These Taobao towns are mid-scale industry clusters (Agglomeration effect)
1) 2 factors that determine their clustering: /1/geographic proximity /2/ similarity in merchandise
2) These clustering Taobao villages provide great environment for entrepreneurship & industrial radiation (创业氛围和产业辐射更强）
3) The advent of these Taobao towns urge government to issue policies to support their E-commerce. (top-down policies in service of bottom-up development)
As of the end of 2013, 19 Taobao towns exist in China, and the top 10 is listed as follows:
1. Xintang, Zengcheng, Guangzhou, Guangdong (9)
2. Taihe, Baiyun, Guangzhou, Guangdong (7)
3. Dajixiang, Caoxian, Heze, Shandong (6)
4. Gexianzhuang, Qinghe, Xietai, Hebei (6)
5. Qinqiu Jiedao, Boxing, Binzhou, Shandong (5)
6. Qiaoxia, Yongjia, Whenzhou, Zhejiang (5)
7. Shaji, Suining, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (5) - our case study
8. Baigou Xincheng, Gaopeidianshi, Baoding, Hebei (5)
9. Shangqinxiang, Anxi, Quanzhou, Fujian (5)
10. Jiangdong, Yiwu, Jinhua, Zhejiang (4)
Characteristics:
All of these TBTs are located in provinces that are on the east coast （在沿海省内）
Top 10 Provinces with the most Taobao villages:
1. Zhejiang (62)
2. Guangdong (54)
3. Fujian (28)
4. Hebei (25)
5. Jiangsu (25) (The TBVs in these 5 provinces cover 90% of the existing TBVs)
6. Shandong (13)
7. Sichuan (2)
8. Henan (1)
9. Tianjing (1)
10. Hubei (1)
Questions:
Are these Taobao towns on their paths to become self-autonomous, economically-prosperous hubs, if not already are, even though they are not yet considered urban by Chinese government, or by most people?
Source:
http://www.cac.gov.cn/2015-02/03/c_1114222357.htm (from Cyber Administration of China)
http://wenku.baidu.com/link?url=UOmdBUiKbleQG7EDkMminq9x_ppng8Ev9WOzG2OhWeSiXSxk5dYajUYa_VIzLtD6zUgobOEmOH28W-LozPOxXzfkayharpfY4UkPv3jjTwS (published by AliResearch, a research agency owned by Alibaba)
