Online trade to hold up Beijing wholesale markets

An online platform will be helpful in upgrading Beijing's traditional wholesale markets amid an industrial slowdown, according to industrial insiders.

"Traditional wholesale markets are facing a great challenge as business began slowing down due to out-dated business models," said Li Hua, president of the Guangzhou-based Zhenhai Science and Technology Co.

The company has already launched a comprehensive online platform, zhenhaipifa.com, which is believed to be the country's first e-commerce platform to promote wholesale markets.

The company recently announced it had signed agreements with local authorities and professional markets in Beijing to help upgrade their businesses.

Over the past few years, a number of wholesale markets in Beijing have had to move their business to neighboring cities as the capital introduced a plan to upgrade its wholesale markets.

"By running their businesses online, traders and buyers are easily connected," Li said.

Deals will be made online, while the traditional practical markets will be a place to exhibit products and become an after-sale service center, according to Li.

"The online model will help reduce operational costs for traditional wholesale markets," Li said.

According to industrial sources, the number of buyers visiting the more than 1,000 wholesale markets in Beijing has declined from 50,000 to 10,000 each day.

"Traditional traders have been facing great pressures in continuing businesses," Li said.

According to Li, a number of Beijing-based wholesale markets have already signed agreements with the company to move their businesses onto the Internet platform.

About 30,000 Beijing-based traders, who traditionally run their businesses in the professional wholesale markets, will begin working with the online platform by next year.

Since launching the online platform at the end of 2014, more than 1,000 wholesale markets across 38 Chinese cities have signed agreements with the company to move their traditional offline businesses to the online platform, according to Li.

"The online platform needs to better serve traders, buyers and local residents nearby, as well as to help traders improve their credibility online," said Zuo Jingsheng, secretary general of Beijing Industrial and Commerce Association.