The livestreaming sector is developing quickly in Shanghai as the city aims to create a favorable environment. According to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, livestreaming retail sales in the city reached about CNY493.7 billion in 2024, up 12.9% year-on-year, ranking first among Chinese cities. Thanks to Shanghai’s accelerated development in digital consumption, the city’s e-commerce transactions grew 12.7% year-on-year to exceed CNY3.27 trillion during the first nine months of this year. This included CNY369 billion from the livestreaming sector, which surged 23.6% from the previous year, said Hua Yuan, Secretary General of the Shanghai municipal government. Shanghai was the first city in the country to introduce dedicated policies to promote the high-quality development of the livestreaming economy. Last year, the city issued a three-year action plan (2024-2026), aiming to become a globally influential hub for livestreaming commerce by 2026, with retail sales in the sector targeting CNY600 billion.
The plan calls for expanding the scale of all types of participants in the livestreaming economy, establishing 10 leading platforms with national and international competitiveness, and nurturing a group of large, influential multi-channel network (MCN) agencies to support top-tier livestreaming hosts. Shanghai’s livestreaming e-commerce stands out for its emphasis on quality and strong brand advantage. Under top-level planning and policy guidance, the city has formed four livestreaming economy clusters and established 20 municipal-level livestreaming e-commerce bases.
Wei Yinghui, Partner and Deputy General Manager of the Meione platform, said the action plan provides a clear blueprint for the industry and offers strong policy support for livestreaming e-commerce companies. “For example, the plan explicitly recognizes livestreaming e-commerce companies as high-tech enterprises, offering eligible companies tax reductions and targeted funding. These direct financial and fiscal incentives can significantly ease the cost pressures of technology development and content innovation, giving companies the confidence to experiment and innovate.” Wei said that by strengthening standards and regulating the industry, the plan helps create a healthier and fairer market environment, allowing competition to focus on quality, service, and innovation.
Su Quan, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Baozun Location, the livestreaming division of Baozun, said the Shanghai municipal government has clearly called for accelerating the development of the industrial ecosystem, strengthening key players, optimizing comprehensive services, and reinforcing leading livestreaming platforms. This creates a favorable policy environment and space for top-tier companies like Baozun to grow. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Shanghai’s Jing’an district, Baozun operates across East-Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America. As of the end of 2024, the company had served more than 490 global brands. Shanghai Oriental-pearl Intelligent Shopping operates a livestreaming base in Shanghai’s Yangpu district, equipped with four professional broadcast studios and 10 livestreaming studios. Beyond its flagship location, the company also runs eight studios across the city under the “Shanghai Onair Studio” IP.
“We see three major opportunities: first, policy support has created a favorable environment for industry growth; second, Shanghai, as an international consumption center, offers huge market potential; and third, technological innovation provides new possibilities for upgrading the livestreaming business model,” said Li Huirong, President of the company. “Our current target is to triple the scale of our own brands in 2026, which is projected to surpass CNY50 million this year,” she added. In the first eight months of this year, the company conducted 3,539 livestreaming activities, attracting 34.93 million viewers.
Lao Guoling, Director of the E-commerce Research Center wat the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said achieving a CNY600 billion livestreaming economy by 2026 was a reasonable target. “From my point of view, it is even a bit of a conservative goal,” Lao said. The city’s livestreaming e-commerce retail revenue reached CNY437.1 billion in 2023 and jumped to CNY493.7 billion in 2024. With an annual growth rate of 12.9%, the figure is projected to reach CNY557.4 billion in 2025 and further expand to CNY629.2 billion in 2026, Lao said. The livestreaming retail sector grew by 23.6% between January and September this year, an even more impressive rate, she added. The early rise of livestreaming e-commerce was driven by strong technological capabilities, from digital livestreaming technologies to the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in livestreaming studios, Lao said. While digital innovation empowers the industry, proper regulation and oversight are equally essential to prevent the disorderly competition seen in the past. “The goal is to address key bottlenecks along the industry chain and ensure its sustainable development,” Lao added, as reported by the China Daily.
