China is leading the way in new retail, which integrates brick and mortar stores, e-commerce, logistics and data across a single value chain. Meanwhile, the circumstance is likely to continue this year due to China’s opening-up policy.

The sales volume of its foreign products platform jumped 350 percent in 2017, according to data from Suning, the one of China’s biggest online-offline retailers.  

“I’d like to look at this ‘initiative’ under a macro context. Globalization is the main trend, and China is an active participant. And the on-going consumption upgrade in China reflects that the country has become an emerging market. China’s spending power is on the rise, and consumers now pay more attention to quality. This is a good opportunity for us to grab,” said Cheng Feng, general manager of Suning.com Co Ltd.

Meanwhile, the concept of new retail, or smart retail, is attracting more attention. The key point of the concept is to promote the integration of online and offline in order to upgrade retail business construction.

“Imports expansion is more about content, while new retail is more about form. Expansion of imports provides us more options, and big data, AI and facial recognition technology make it possible to provide better service,” Cheng added.

China reduced its taxes on more than 8,000 imported items to zero which included agricultural products, snacks, cosmetics and consumer electronics.