Factors affecting e-commerce diffusion in China in the 21st century

With an ambition to become one of the world's economic superpowers, China sees its future closely tied to its information technology (IT) industry, as well as e-commerce deployment. This paper provides an overview of various environmental factors that could facilitate or retard e-commerce diffusion in China from two aspects – national environment and national policy. The paper first examines infrastructures for e-commerce diffusion. These fundamental infrastructures include demographics, economics, IT deployment, consumer readiness, and others. The national policy section investigates various policy perspectives regarding e-commerce diffusion. The paper is intended to serve as a foundation for further research and discussion on e-commerce diffusion in China.