At the State Council executive meeting on April 6, Premier Li Keqiang stressed that China must seize the 'first opportunity' of the new round of the circulation industry revolution. The meeting deployed actions to promote 'Internet + circulation'. This is called the new round of 'circulation industry revolution'. The Premier traced history, saying that in the 17th century, France gave birth to the earliest department stores, greatly driving the circulation industry revolution; after the 19th century, the United States saw a large number of chain stores, driving a new round of circulation industry revolution. In the surge of 'Internet + circulation', the latest round of 'circulation industry revolution' has been born. 'Logistics and production are inseparable. Historically, the 'industrial revolution' and 'circulation revolution' have always been twin sisters,' Li said. Relevant statistics show that in 2015, China's online retail sales reached 3.88 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.33%, ranking first globally. China has boarded the fast train of the latest 'circulation industry revolution'. Li further emphasized that to seize the 'first opportunity' of the circulation industry revolution and maintain a leading position, it is necessary to break through four 'bottleneck constraints' in both hard and soft environments. 1 Increase investment in rural broadband construction to bridge the 'digital divide' between rural and urban areas The first 'bottleneck' proposed by the Premier is the lag in rural information infrastructure construction. 'China's rural areas still have huge market demand and potential, which have not been fully driven. Currently, telecom enterprises should increase investment and further strengthen rural broadband networks and base station construction!' the Premier said. 'This is conducive to industrial products going to the countryside, allowing rural people to enjoy the same consumer services as urban residents; it is also conducive to agricultural products expanding markets and increasing farmers' income.' The Premier has previously promoted 'rural e-commerce' on multiple occasions to narrow the urban-rural gap through the Internet. According to statistics from relevant departments, in 2015, rural online shopping transactions reached 353 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 96%. 'When I went to grassroots inspections, even in the most remote rural areas, villagers were using smartphones. So we must accelerate investment in rural broadband construction, increase efforts to promote rural e-commerce development, and bridge the 'digital divide' between rural and urban areas!' Li said. 2 Build a smart logistics system, develop the Internet of Things, and truly 'invigorate' circulation The second 'bottleneck' proposed by Li Keqiang is the lag in smart logistics systems, the Internet of Things, and cold chain transportation. In September last year, during an inspection in Henan, Premier Li Keqiang was introduced by an e-commerce enterprise leader to their 'cold truck crowdsourcing' model, where drivers and companies jointly purchase cold trucks to build a cold chain transportation system. 'The price of a cold truck is 700,000 yuan, which is indeed relatively high, but through comprehensive scheduling using GPS and other data, they reduced the empty load rate of cold trucks to about 10%, greatly improving transportation efficiency and operational benefits.' At the executive meeting on April 6, the Premier spoke of the situation at that time. Li Keqiang said that China's market demand for cold chain equipment and facilities is still large, so it is necessary to build a smart logistics system, develop the Internet of Things, and break through the 'hard bottleneck' of lagging cold chain transportation. 'China has 1.3 billion people, such a large market. Breaking this 'hard bottleneck' constraint and truly invigorating circulation will release the huge market demand and potential of 1.3 billion people,' the Premier said. 3 Through the application of new technologies such as the Internet and big data, further improve the level of supervision during and after events The third 'bottleneck' proposed by the Premier is the lag in the 'soft environment' for business. Counterfeiting, fraud, and deception occur from time to time, and the fair competition environment needs to be strengthened. 'Counterfeiting, infringement of intellectual property rights, and other behaviors are unfair competition against other enterprises and will ultimately affect the healthy development of the entire industry,' Li said. He explicitly required relevant departments to further improve the level of supervision during and after events through the application of new technologies such as the Internet and big data. 'We have already achieved 'three certificates in one' and 'one license, one code'. On this basis, relevant departments should further improve the level of supervision over counterfeiting, fraud, deception, and infringement of intellectual property rights,' the Premier said. 'We must use reasonable supervision to break the 'soft constraints' of the business environment and promote the healthy development of online and offline circulation.' 4 The government should further improve planning and management capabilities, and must not simply seek convenience or 'ban everything' The fourth 'bottleneck' proposed by the Premier is the high rent for physical shops: 'We need to promote the integrated development of online and offline, allowing physical stores to 'go online' and online stores to have the opportunity to come 'offline', but an important bottleneck constraint in this regard is the high 'rent' for shops.' He required the government to change planning and management concepts, increase the number of commercial outlets, and guide physical shops to reduce rent. 'I have seen some cities where small shops line the streets, selling all kinds of things. Not only is it convenient for residents, but the entire city is full of vitality. However, some cities have deviations in planning and management concepts, blindly pursuing 'clean environment' and sacrificing many small shops. Such a city is actually a 'dead city' without vitality!' Li said. The Premier said that without convenient living conditions for the people, big cities will shrink, and the development of the circulation industry will lose its foundation. 'Previously, in some cities, farmers were not allowed to bring small carts of watermelons into the city in summer, saying it affected urban cleanliness, leaving people unable to eat watermelons and farmers unable to earn proper income. Does the government have no way to solve the cleanliness problem?' he asked rhetorically. Li further emphasized that the government must improve planning and management capabilities and must not simply seek convenience: 'ban everything'. 'To put it bluntly, isn't this lazy governance?' Li said. He required relevant departments to effectively guide the reduction of physical shop rents through market means, accelerate the integrated development of online and offline, and promote the growth of the sharing economy. -END-