E-commerce, logistics firms to tread rural path

The Ministry of Commerce will encourage more e-commerce and logistics companies to expand into rural areas this year as part of its efforts to create more jobs and provide better information access, officials said on Wednesday.

They said that the primary objective of the efforts would be to create a more orderly rural e-commerce market this year. To achieve this, the ministry will integrate resources from telecommunications, transportation, postal services, financial services, supply and distribution sectors to enhance rural areas' ability to upgrade their infrastructure facilities and market access channels.

Kong Lingyu, deputy director-general of the department of market system development, said e-commerce not only offers rural residents convenient access to goods, but is also an important tool to gauge the current market prices.