Report by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation: Live-streaming e-commerce continues to unlock incremental value in serving the real economy

On May 20, the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce released a research report titled "From 'domestic' to Trending Brands: Mechanisms and Pathways Through Which Livestream E-commerce EmpowersdomesticBrand Growth" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). The Report states that livestream e-commerce, as an emerging business model deeply integrating the digital and real economies, continues to unlock incremental value for the real economy and is driving positive structural changes across multiple dimensions—including brand upgrading, industrial transformation, consumption expansion, and job creation.

China's consumer market currently maintains a steady and improving trajectory, with new forms of consumption accelerating their development. Against this backdrop, the Report further clarifies the core positioning and long-term value of livestream e-commerce from a macro perspective focused on serving the real economy. Its contribution extends beyond merely expanding transaction volumes—it also lies in bridging content-driven scenarios and efficiently connecting supply with demand, thereby advancing high-quality development.

Strengthening the Foundation for Brand Development: "In-House Livestreaming" Becomes adomesticNew Pathway for Quality Upgrading and Leapfrogging

At the brand-building level, the Report observes that livestream e-commerce continues to generate significant new momentum. It has substantially lowered market entry and marketing costs for emerging brands while offering end-to-end support—from platform onboarding and operations to brand incubation. As the industry gradually shifts toward a model dominated by in-house brand livestreaming supplemented by influencer-led streams, the advantages of brand-operated livestreams—particularly in professional operations and long-term user engagement—are becoming increasingly evident, creating a sustainable pathway for "Made in China" to evolve toward branded, premium offerings.

In this regard, Professor Chen Qiangyuan of the National Academy of Development and Strategy at Renmin University of China noted: "One key pain point in China’s manufacturing sector is having production capacity but lacking brands. Livestream e-commerce enablesdomesticcontract manufacturers to transition into brand owners primarily through mechanisms such as demand feedback, trust accumulation, and in-house livestreaming dominance. For the first time, it empowers contract manufacturers with the ability to 'define their own products,' allows consumers to finally 'see' the craftsmanship built up over years, and gives brands true ownership over user engagement. Livestream e-commerce provides a comprehensive infrastructure for branding—from product development and marketing to organizational capabilities—which serves asdomesticthe critical lever enabling the leap from contract manufacturing to brand ownership."

Streamlining supply-demand linkages: 'Small-batch, rapid-response' drives efficiency gains in physical industries

The report notes that live-streaming e-commerce is becoming a critical enabler of digital transformation in manufacturing. On one hand, real-time interaction and data feedback are accelerating the adoption of user co-creation, flexible production, and 'small-batch, rapid-response' models, enabling businesses to react more swiftly to market demand. On the other hand, it is facilitating the shift from export-oriented to domestic sales and promoting integration between domestic and international trade, thereby opening up new market opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises. To date, over 2,000 'e-commerce + industrial clusters' have been developed nationwide, indirectly underscoring the powerful catalytic effect of this new channel on physical industries.

Fu Wei, Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzes that the reshaping of supply chains by live-streaming e-commerce is essentially an innovation in 'demand signaling.' It redefines the traditional notion that 'sales fulfill demand' by using content to stimulate latent demand, transforming consumption from passive selection to active triggering. Coupled with the production flexibility inherent in China's industrial clusters, once a clear demand signal emerges, the entire loop—from demand identification to product delivery—can be completed in an extremely short timeframe. This deep integration of demand creation and rapid response constitutes the underlying logic behind new growth increments.

Unlocking latent demand: 'Expanding the pie' to cultivate new drivers of consumer growth

The report finds that live-streaming e-commerce, through content recommendations, immersive scenarios, and real-time interaction, stimulates interest-driven and context-based consumption, reaching and converting previously underserved consumer segments and simultaneously expanding both the user base and the overall consumer market. Macro-level data supports this incremental growth: according to Ministry of Commerce figures, online retail sales reached RMB 15.97 trillion in 2025, up 8.6% year-on-year, while live-streaming transaction volume grew by 11.3%.

On the expansion of incremental markets, Professor Chen Qiangyuan further remarked: 'These newly acquired domestic brand consumers are not simply migrating from traditional shelf-based e-commerce platforms—they are genuine incremental users truly 'created' by the mechanisms of live-streaming e-commerce. Fundamentally, live-streaming e-commerce isn't about 'dividing the pie'; it's about 'expanding the pie,' continuously channeling previously untapped or unactivated consumers and demand into the growth trajectory of domestic brands.'

Broadening employment pathways: Over 20 million online merchants driving job stability and expansion

In terms of job retention and creation, live-streaming e-commerce has given rise to a range of new professions—including live-stream hosts, operations specialists, product selectors, and live-session coordinators—and has scaled up employment across upstream and downstream segments of the industrial chain, providing vital support for rural revitalization and industrial cluster development. According to the report, by the end of 2025, the number of rural online merchants nationwide reached 20.074 million, an increase of 4.6% year-on-year; meanwhile, rural merchants engaged in 'live-streaming + social commerce' totaled 7.477 million, up 5.1% year-on-year. This indicates that the incremental value generated by live-streaming e-commerce is now extending beyond consumption and branding into employment and broader livelihood domains.

The report concludes that domestic demand has become a key engine of economic growth, and ongoing policy support for domestic 'trendy' brands, cultivation of new consumption models, and expansion of incremental markets is creating favorable conditions for synergistic development between live-streaming e-commerce and domestic brands. As mechanisms such as interest-driven discovery, scenario activation, demand feedback, trust building, and content-driven engagement continue to mature, live-streaming e-commerce is poised to further unlock value across brand growth, industrial output, consumer expansion, and employment creation, thereby better serving the high-quality development of the real economy.

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