Suzhou in Jiangsu province has unveiled measures, including financial subsidies, to spur live-streaming e-commerce in the city, following the end of a regulatory crackdown on the country’s major internet companies. The municipal government of Suzhou has drawn up 17 measures that include providing up to CNY1 million in cash subsidies to individual live streamers who generate more than CNY50 million in annual sales and pay their taxes in the city.
Local authorities will also offer Chinese multichannel networks – organizations that directly work with brands to get endorsement from so-called key opinion leaders (KOLs) or influencers on social media – rewards of up to CNY1.2 million each when they secure exclusive contracts with popular live streamers who generate annual sales of more than CNY100 million. Suzhou’s other measures involve recruiting more “high-level talent” to the city’s live-streaming e-commerce sector. The municipal government said these individuals would be eligible for various preferential policies, including housing subsidies and support for their children’s education.
“At present, the digital economy, of which live-streaming e-commerce is an example, has a significant role in stimulating the real economy,” the municipal government said. This initiative by Suzhou, home to more than 300 companies that form part of China’s semiconductor supply chain as of 2022, reflects the growing interest among major cities to harness live-streaming e-commerce to boost consumption. Suzhou is playing catch-up to more established live-streaming e-commerce hubs such as Hangzhou and Shenzhen. Hangzhou, home to Alibaba Group Holding and 69,000 live-streaming e-commerce hosts, achieved CNY503 billion in sales from this activity in the first 10 months of 2021, according to government data.
Taobao Live, Alibaba’s live-streaming platform, last December announced a plan to cultivate 200,000 new online influencers as part of its strategy to develop 100,000 live-streaming accounts and 1,000 live-streaming studios, with an annual turnover exceeding CNY1 million, in industrial hotspots across the country. Shenzhen in March unveiled a plan to become a live-streaming e-commerce hub “with global influence” that would record more than CNY300 billion in sales by 2025. It generated CNY165 billion in live-streaming e-commerce sales in 2022. Still, the municipal government of Suzhou said it already has a strong foothold in the sector. In 2022, the city recorded CNY55 billion in sales from live-streaming e-commerce, up 79.2% from the same period last year.
The current enthusiasm shown by various local governments to promote this segment of the e-commerce market marks a sharp contrast from two years earlier, when live-streaming activities drew intense scrutiny from regulators. That crackdown saw some popular live streamers accused of misrepresenting their products and services, as well as faking sales numbers. It also resulted in new regulations being implemented, the South China Morning Post reports.
