Dear friends from the press, good afternoon. Welcome to MOFCOM’s thematic news briefing.

As the Chinese New Year is approaching, MOFCOM, together with relevant departments, will launch the “2021 Chinese New Year Shopping Festival” to help consumers with their New Year purchases. To brief you on the Shopping Festival, we have invited to our news briefing Ms. Qian Fangli, Director General of the Department of E-commerce of MOFCOM, Mr. Zhang Peng, Deputy Director General of the Information Development Bureau of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, Mr. Zhang Jun, Inspector at Level Two of the Department of Consumer Goods of MIIT, Ms. Zhou Lin, Inspector at Level Two of the Department of Internet Supervision of SAMR, Mr. Bian Zuodong, Deputy Director General of the Department of Market Supervision of the State Post Bureau, and Mr. Li Yuanguang, Deputy Secretary General of the China Consumers Association. I’m Gaofeng, Deputy Director General of the General Office and spokesperson of MOFCOM. I’ll be moderating today’s news briefing. First, I’ll give the floor to Ms. Qian Fangli to brief you on the 2021 Chinese New Year Shopping Festival, then the we will open the floor for questions. Now please welcome DG Qian.

Qian Fangli: Members of the press, good afternoon. Welcome to today’s briefing, which is mainly about the 2021 Online Chinese New Year Shopping Festival.

In the past year, the CPC Central with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core made resolute decisions based on a big-picture perspective and united and led people of all ethnicities in coordinating COVID response and economic and social development, securing major strategic outcomes in the fight against the virus and making China the world’s only major economy that had grown, which is an extraordinary achievement. As the 2021 Chinese New Year draws near and the pandemic continues to ravage the world, domestic mini-outbreaks and concentrated infections in pockets of areas have exacerbated the contradiction between festival shopping and the prevention of congregation.

To enforce the spirit of the 5th Plenary of the 19th CPC Central Committee and the Central Economic Work Conference, meet the requirements of the CPC Central and the State Council for COVID response during the Spring Festival, and ensure a safe, healthy and happy Chinese New Year for the people, MOFCOM, together with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration of Market Regulation, the State Post Bureau and China Consumers Association, among other departments and agencies, gave guidance to e-commerce and related businesses on the 2021 Online Chinese New Year Shopping Festival. Under the principle of government guidance, business initiative and market-based operation and themed “Easy Buy from Home”, the event kicked off on January 20th (December 8th on the lunar calendar) and will end on February 18th (January 7th on the lunar calendar), lasting for thirty days. It will feature the following four characteristics.

First, sufficient supply to build up the festive atmosphere. Traditional Spring Festival shopping, reunions, dinner parties and calls and visits to temple fairs, though fixtures of the season, might pose transmission risks from congregation. In view of this, we will guide related businesses to ensure adequate supplies of essentials, such as rice, flour, cooking oil, meat, eggs, vegetables, milk and instant food, as well as anti-epidemic supplies like masks, disinfectants, and disposable gloves and meet consumers’ trading up demand by introducing more customized, smart, green and quality products. Through live-streaming and migration to cloud, we will further enrich and cover consumption scenarios in cities and the countryside, online and offline and at-home and in-store, among others, with virtual services that highlight traditional festivities. For example, special virtual activities such as festival shopping, market trips, cloud dining and greetings will be organized. Traditional branded and quality restaurants will be enlisted to provide home deliveries of meals for Chinese New Year’s Eve, weddings and birthdays. Supporting services that run throughout the Spring Festival holiday will be provided to enable happy and cheerful celebrations at home.

Second, attractive deals that provide consumers with good value for money. To encourage businesses to take part in the Festival, the localities have prepared generous offers and prizes for business stocking and promotion. Some facilitate the processing of passes and licenses; others reward businesses delivering good sales and consumer satisfaction to effectively mobilize businesses. To encourage consumers to buy from home, some have handed out consumption coupons to households; others have supported offer hampers for left-behind children and old people. Participating companies will launch promotions through coupons, reductions on purchases, sec-killings, and discounts, with more inputs and real offers to deliver real benefits to consumers.

Third, practical measures to ensure consumer rights. All activities under the 2021 Online Chinese New Year Shopping Festival will be uniformly branded as a clear indication for consumers. To enable easy, satisfactory, reassuring, pleasant and safe shopping experiences, MOFCOM, in concert with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration of Market Regulation, the State Post Bureau and China Consumers Association, among other departments and agencies, will ensure a favourable cyber environment, rich and quality products, regulated operation, timely and smooth delivery and consumer rights protection as guiding authorities for the event. During the event, related departments will urge businesses to meet the requirements for honest operation, ensure product and service quality, deliver on consumption promises and protect consumer rights and interests. At the same time, unfair competition, and pirated, counterfeit and shoddy goods are strictly prohibited, among other illegal acts.

Fourth, maintain strict containment protocols to reassure people. The related departments across the country will urge the online and offline businesses participating in the Festival to implement the epidemic control measures for both people and goods. For people, they need to make sure people are properly protected and monitored daily; for goods, they need to ensure proper operation during warehousing, sorting, and delivery. In particular, containment measures must be fully enforced along the entire cold chain, including by disinfecting storage facilities, warehouses, and inventories. All these measures will help to bring safety to consumers and minimize risks of spreading the virus.

We have recently held a preparation meeting with local governments and businesses. Many businesses have already started promotions and pre-sales. In order for more consumers to learn about, experience and enjoy the online shopping festival, we invite friends from the press to broadly cover the events and publicize the good practices and stories that have emerged. On behalf of the guiding department, I wish to thank you for your support to our work. Happy Chinese New Year and wish you and your families good health, happiness, and success in the new year. Thank you.

Gao Feng: Thank you DG Qian Fangli for your overview. The floor is open for questions. As usual, please identify yourself and keep your question closely related to today’s theme.

International Business Daily: What’s special about the timing of the Chinese New Year Shopping Festival? Thank you.

Qian Fangli: Thank you for the question. We’ve put a lot of thought into the timing and scheduled it for January 20th through February 18th. As we say, New Year is coming after Laba, or December 8th on the Lunar Calendar. MOFCOM monitoring data suggest that this period is the shopping peak. This year, to avoid crowding while ensuring supply and promoting consumption, we have encouraged e-commerce operators to offer discounts and gift with purchase programs. I just now also outlined the range of activities that will allow people to shop safely and conveniently. The Festival will last until January 7th of the lunar year, mainly because we want to ensure adequate supply during the Spring Festival. To meet people’s needs, we encourage businesses to supply the family dinner, fresh vegetables and fruits, and pre-made meals to consumers, so that we can all enjoy a safe, peaceful and happy new year. Thank you.

Xinhua News Agency: Consumers are quite excited about the online New Year Shopping Festival. How is the consumer goods sector doing? What’s most popular among consumers?

Zhang Jun: The consumer goods industry is critical to people’s livelihoods and has been a robust industry traditionally. It is an important pillar to meet people’s growing demand and consumption needs. In recent years, measures for the supply-side structural reform have been fully implemented in the consumer goods industry. In particular, the campaigns to improve varieties, quality and branding have boosted the availability of goods, consumer satisfaction, and brand recognition. The consumer goods industry has become more sophisticated, with optimized structure and faster transformation and upgrading. China leads the world in the manufacturing capacity and standard at all links of the industry chains. This is what underpins the 2020 National Online New Year Shopping Festival.

As people’s income grows, innovative and upgraded products are getting more popular. Consumers crave for personalized goods and rich varieties. Healthy, green, and smart consumer goods have won the hearts of many consumers. For example, variable frequency air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines take up over 50% of market share. In 2020, the industry association, under the guidance of MOFCOM, published the Consumer Guidance for Upgraded and Innovative Light Industry Products (7th batch). Rice cooker, dish washer, high-speed blender, water filter, and air purifier have become new growth points. Personalized services for apparel, furniture and other industries have been rolled out widely, and the solutions are getting more sophisticated. Thank you.

Red Star News: At present, what preparations have postal express enterprises made for the online shopping fair for Spring Festival? Thank you.

Bian Zuodong: Postal express delivery is a forerunning sector for modernization that serves production and people’s daily life, promotes consumption upgrading and keeps economic circulation smooth. It is also the main channel supporting the development of e-commerce. During the national online shopping fair for Spring Festival in 2021, postal and express delivery companies will also strive to ensure sound postal and delivery services and promote the coordinated development of post, express delivery and e-commerce.

For postal and express delivery enterprises, ensuring postal and delivery services during the online shopping fair for spring festival is faced with many difficulties. On one hand, there is a great pressure to ensure that the companies are well-staffed during the Spring Festival. In the past years, the Spring Festival was the slack season for express delivery business, and the business volume would be less than 10% of the regular level. Couriers would also usually return home for a rest during the Spring Festival, which could easily cause a shortage of staff. At the same time, the labor cost during the Spring Festival is 2-3 times that of regular costs, which is also a large expense for express delivery enterprises. On the other hand, epidemic prevention and control is still facing many difficulties. The risk of imported COVID-19 cases is still great, and the task of preventing imported COVID-19 cases is very hard. The sporadic and frequent epidemic in China has a large influence on the production and operation of companies.

Therefore, in order to ensure the smooth progress of this year's online shopping fair for Spring Festival, postal and express delivery enterprises have also made a lot of efforts. Recently, the State Post Bureau has mobilized and made arrangements for the whole industry, requesting that epidemic prevention and control and support for people's livelihood be well coordinated, and all companies have also responded well. With regard to a fully-staffed courier team, we ask the whole industry to thoroughly implement the guiding principles of a series of important instructions by General Secretary Xi Jinping on caring for couriers, and effectively protect their legitimate rights and interests. Enterprises are required to fulfill their statutory obligations of paying wages, improve the reward and punishment mechanism, keep a smooth complaint channel for employees, and resolutely stop arbitrarily deducting expenses or delaying settlement. Since December last year, we have organized and carried out the "Nuanfeng Campaign (You deliver, we care)" in the whole industry to create a sound environment to care for couriers. In addition, it is known that, unlike in previous years, many express delivery companies have devoted more efforts to offer services during the Spring Festival, and they can provide postal and delivery services in more cities during the Festival. The companies have also actively responded to the call of localities to let employees to stay where they live and work during the Spring Festival. In addition to offering care and support for the frontline couriers during the Spring Festival, they have also provided many incentive policies and benefits for the couriers who have stayed, hoping that the well-assured couriers can provide good service for everyone. Of course, we also ask enterprises to ensure the lawful rights of couriers for rest and vacation, properly plan the rota of employees, and well balance the lawful rights and interests of couriers with the production and operation of enterprises. In terms of epidemic prevention and control, we require postal and express delivery enterprises to fully implement the five measures of epidemic prevention and control, vigorously prevent imported cases and monitor cold chain imports, strengthen employee protection, reduce crowds, and disinfect mail and express. At present, the whole industry is steadily and orderly organizing vaccine inoculation according to the requirements of the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council. As one of the major groups, the health of couriers will be better guaranteed.

This year's online shopping fair for Spring Festival will last for a long time, and the business volume is expected to increase significantly compared with last year's Spring Festival. At the same time, when couriers are returning home and epidemic prevention and control continue, the postal and express delivery sector will face some special difficulties and disadvantages. The whole industry will try its best to offer relevant services well, so as to ensure that the customers will well receive their purchases for Spring Festival and enjoy the Spring Festival. However, due to the influence of objective conditions and some special factors, in some local areas and special time periods, the service offered by our couriers and their delivery speed may be less than satisfactory, and we hope for your kind understanding. Thank you.

Gao Feng: Any other questions?

CNR: Mr. Zhang Jun, could you please introduce other initiatives the MIIT will take to ensure a smooth and successful national Spring Festival online shopping festival? Thank you.

Zhang Jun: This year is the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan period. In order to make the Spring Festival online shopping festival a success, the MIIT has focused on the following three aspects.

First, we have called on local industry and information technology departments to roll out the online shopping festival for the Chinese New Year, and implement the measures on the prevention and control of the epidemic, protection of people’s livelihood and promoting economic growth. Based on the features of the Spring Festival market and the consumers’ shopping habits, the shopping festival initiatives will be carefully planned and arranged, widely publicized and earnestly implemented.

Second, we provide guidance for production enterprises to inure themselves to the epidemic control protocols and the contact-free consumption model so that they can make every effort to ensure the supply of epidemic prevention supplies, follow the trend of consumption upgrading, and constantly enhance the capacity of meeting the supply of healthy, green and intelligent consumer goods.

Third, we promote the integration of the consumer goods industry and the Internet and other next generation of information technology, advance the application of new models of intelligent manufacturing, and encourage bespoke and flexible production. We will accelerate the coordinated development of manufacturing and services to achieve the transformation from production-oriented manufacturing to service-oriented manufacturing. Thank you.

Gao Feng: Last question please.

CCTV: Mr. Li Yuanguang, what should the e-commerce platforms and shops do to better protect consumer rights during this online Spring Festival shopping festival? Thank you.

Li Yuanguang: Thank you for your question. E-commerce platforms and business operators on these platforms should comply with law and fulfill their obligations to ensure the quality and safety of goods. This is the bottom line. First, the shopping features of Spring Festival and the impact of the pandemic on supply capacity and consumer sentiment should be taken into account. And the most complained issues in the past such as the quality of goods, contracts, promotions, after-sales services, etc. should be taken care of through better management and stronger measures to guarantee consumers’ right to safety, to independent choice and to fair trade. Second, such acts as selling fake and shoddy goods, infringement of intellectual property rights, false discounts, inaccurate advertisement, and unilaterally canceling orders should be put an end to. In particular, we should better regulate live-streaming sales methods to prevent exaggerated propaganda, false endorsement, induced page jumping and fraudulent sales. In short, effective initiatives should be taken, the quality of goods should be guaranteed, after-sales services should be accessible, channels for returning goods should be unimpeded, and complaints should be responded to and resolved in a timely manner. Thank you.

Gao Feng: This is the end of today’s briefing. If you have other questions or concerns, you are welcome to contact our Information Office. We will actively respond in other ways. I want to thank all the speakers and the friends from the press. Thank you all.

(All information published on this website is authentic in Chinese. English is provided for reference only.)