IP PROTECTION IN CHINA ’ S E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY
China ’ s e-commerce market has developed rapidly in recent years , and there is little doubt that this evolution will continue . Intense competition has pushed platforms to improve and has brought significant benefits for consumers and the industry as a whole . At the same time , the market is continually changing , and the emergence of social commerce is arguably the most profound shift .
The idea behind social commerce is to replicate online the shopping mall experience that people so enjoy offline – a development that consumers have found particularly valuable during the Covid-19 pandemic . Social commerce achieves this by using tools that bring people together interactively , combining social networking and online shopping . that e-commerce has come in its efforts to replicate the offline shopping experience .
This year , Facebook launched its social commerce service , which enables businesses to set up shops on its platforms , including on Instagram . Platforms like Douyin , Kuaishou and TikTok are also joining the e-commerce world .
However , as INTA has pointed out , the sale of counterfeits and fakes through social media platforms is a growing problem . 49 Clicking on a targeted advert can send users to websites that appear to offer legitimate goods , but that sell fakes . In addition , INTA notes , social media sites now let users sell goods directly to other users , making it harder to combat the sale of counterfeits . 50
Pinduoduo pioneered the social commerce approach in China , which has proven to be hugely popular globally – in China alone it was worth an estimated RMB2.07 trillion ( US $ 302 billion ) in 2019 . 47
It is set to become even more popular , according to a 2019 report on China ’ s social commerce market by research firm Nielsen . It noted that social commerce had doubled annually in each of the five years to 2019 , and expected this market would enjoy even greater growth looking ahead . 48
As the Nielsen report indicates , the rise of social commerce shows little sign of slowing . Trends such as livestreaming are proving increasingly popular across all e-commerce formats – indeed , livestreaming combined with platform-hosted live chats between friends marks the closest 47
http :// global . chinadaily . com . cn / a / 201907 / 11 / WS5d26feeaa3105895c2e7cfa2 . html 48
Nielsen China : 80 Percent Impulsive Shopping Comes from Social Commerce , Jing Daily ( June 19 , 2019 ). See : https :// jingdaily . com / nielsen-china-impulsive-shopping-comes-from-social-commerce / 49
Addressing the Sale of Counterfeits on the Internet , INTA , op cit . 50 Ibid .
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