Investigation of e‐commerce in China in a geographical perspective

Abstract In recent years, e‐commerce has become a phenomenal symbol for the ongoing socio‐economic transformation in China. Driven by the growth of the Internet and cyberspace, e‐commerce changes both the traditional patterns of economic transactions and the social relations embedded in social activities. E‐commerce is a new catalyst for economic growth in China as it reduces restrictions to market access and the costs of transaction. This research examines the geography of e‐commerce in China within a theoretical framework grounded by social theory and neoclassical economics. After presenting a background of the development of e‐commerce in China, the spatiality of e‐commerce and its correlation to socio‐economic variables are examined with both quantitative and geovisualization techniques. Results of this research address that the growth of e‐commerce in China presents a nationwide inequality constrained by local economic, politic, and infrastructure conditions. The growth of e‐commerce in China presents a hybrid feature in terms of spatiality, which relies on structures in both cyberspace and physical space. Policy implications and suggestions for future research were suggested based on these empirical results. A discussion of limitations associated with this research and a concluding note close the research.