Guangzhou launches first livestream e-commerce festival to promote millions of goods
Hong Yaobin
Guangzhou launches the world's first livestream e-commerce festival, June 6, 2020. /Guangzhou Livestream Festival

Guangzhou launches the world's first livestream e-commerce festival, June 6, 2020. /Guangzhou Livestream Festival

Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, launched the world's first livestream e-commerce festival on Saturday to "show and sell" millions of diversified commodities.

The three-day festival features upwards of 200,000 livestreams showing a variety of goods in an attempt to stimulate online consumption, according to the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

Major Chinese e-commerce platforms like Taobao and Kuaishou, as well as more than 80 Multi-Channel Networks, are participating in the event to promote over 100,000 categories of commodities, showcasing a new consumption model of "everything can be livestreamed."

A livestream promotion during the first Livestream Festival in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. /Xinhua

A livestream promotion during the first Livestream Festival in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. /Xinhua

China's first livestream festival based in a city involves various livestreams and activities held in specialized markets, major shopping malls and restaurants, said Wei Min, deputy head of the commerce bureau.

The livestreaming video market saw strong household and corporate demand during the coronavirus lockdown in China, which is expected to have 526 million livestreaming video users this year, up from 504 million in 2019.

New capital of livestream e-commerce

Guangzhou has more than 640 professional wholesale markets, and its strong industrial agglomeration and complete supply chain system can provide significant assistance for the development of live broadcast e-commerce.

Popular livestreaming star Wei Ya during the first Livestream Festival in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. /sohu.com

Popular livestreaming star Wei Ya during the first Livestream Festival in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. /sohu.com

Hailed a "business capital of thousands of years," Guangzhou possesses multiple advantages in developing livestream e-commerce, including abundant sources, fast logistics and complete supply chains, which can be demonstrated via the event, Wei added.

"Guangzhou has a very rich supply, for example, there are many good bases, wholesale markets, brands," said Taobao's top livestreamer Wei Ya, adding that the city "has the most complete supply, including seafood, clothing, beauty."

A livestreamer during the first Livestream Festival in Guangzhou. /Xinhua

A livestreamer during the first Livestream Festival in Guangzhou. /Xinhua

"I already have a lot of cooperation with the Guangzhou market," the livestreaming star revealed, saying that she hoped to find more high-quality supply chains in Guangzhou for in-depth cooperation, and to recommend more local brands and better products to her audiences.

According to the "Livestream New Economy Report" released by Taobao Live – China's leading livestream e-commerce platform – the merchants based in Guangzhou have quadrupled on the platform since this February, and the city's purchasing power, the numbers of livestreams and streamers all ranked first in the country.