This Day, That Year

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On Sept 11, 2001, Beijing Jiaotong University introduced an e-commerce course, becoming one of the first 13 colleges to set up such a major. The Ministry of Education said the new major aimed to meet the surging demand for talent in the booming e-commerce market.

E-commerce is now a major driver of China's retail economy, accounting for almost one-fifth of the country's total retail sales last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.