China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM, 商务部) and six other government bodies published a notice on “quality e-commerce” on 10 October 2026. It sets out 15 tasks across five areas, from platform rules to cross-border sales. In this article, we look at the issuing details, the five areas and the tasks that touch platforms and merchants most directly.
Seven bodies signed the notice, dated 11 September and published on 10 October
According to the notice on the MOFCOM website, the “Five Excellences” (五优) action is issued by MOFCOM with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and the State Post Bureau.
In an explainer published the same day, the head of MOFCOM’s Department of Electronic Commerce said the notice follows the Special Action Plan to Boost Consumption (提振消费专项行动方案). The stated goal is to move the e-commerce sector from expanding scale to improving quality.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Issuing bodies | MOFCOM, Cyberspace Administration of China, NDRC, MIIT, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, SAMR, State Post Bureau |
| Title | 商务部等7部门关于实施品质电商”五优”行动的通知 |
| Document number | Not shown on the published page |
| Date of notice | 11 September 2026 |
| Published | 10 October 2026 |
| Effective date / period | Not stated |
| Scope | E-commerce platforms, merchants, consumption campaigns, cross-border e-commerce, industry standards and associations |
The 15 tasks fall into five “excellence” areas, three tasks each
Each area carries a short Chinese label built on the character 优 (“excellent”). The explainer describes the structure as five dimensions with 15 specific tasks.
| Area | Tasks |
|---|---|
| Platforms: 品质推优 (promote quality) | Develop quality e-commerce operators; shift platform rules towards quality; build end-to-end quality control |
| Merchants: 品质创优 (create quality) | Improve merchants’ quality operations; develop e-commerce consumer brands; help quality merchants enter new markets |
| Consumers: 品质择优 (choose quality) | Build a calendar of quality shopping campaigns; create online-offline consumption scenes; strengthen consumer guidance and financial services |
| Cross-border: 品质争优 (compete on quality) | Build a sound environment for e-commerce going overseas; develop the “Silk Road Cloud Products” (丝路云品) brand; open the e-commerce sector further |
| Rules: 长效护优 (protect quality) | Improve e-commerce standards; jointly address disorderly and irrational competition; strengthen industry self-regulation |
The notice targets “automatic price-following” and “lowest price online” practices
Under the competition task, the notice calls for stronger supervision and enforcement to correct platform practices such as “automatic price-following” (自动跟价) and “lowest price across the internet” (全网最低价). It describes these as disorderly competition.
The same task covers rules on platform commissions and merchant ratings, so that quality merchants are not squeezed. It also calls for action against fake orders and inflated reviews (刷单炒信), and for a dialogue mechanism between platforms and small and medium-sized merchants.
Platforms are asked to publish rule changes for comment and to appoint chief quality officers
In the platform area, the notice requires platforms to follow rules on publishing their rules and seeking public comment. It asks them to improve how products are displayed, recommended and promoted.
Under the quality-control task, the notice guides platforms to set up a chief quality officer (首席质量官) system.
Shopping festivals, livestream sellers and import pavilions are named in the tasks
- Campaigns: the notice says the “National Online New Year Shopping Festival” (全国网上年货节) and the “Double Products Online Shopping Festival” (双品网购节) will be run, and names “618” and “Double 11” (双11) as consumption peaks.
- Merchant training: local e-commerce industrial parks are guided to offer training on quality management, standards, compliance and brand building to small manufacturers, cross-border e-commerce sellers and livestream e-commerce sellers.
- Offline: the notice calls for quality consumption experience centres that combine display, trial, sales and service.
- Imports: it calls for better use of cross-border e-commerce retail imports, support for overseas products’ first launches, and a “national pavilion + livestreaming” (国家馆+直播) channel.
- Exports: it calls for a dual “brand + quality” review mechanism for e-commerce going overseas.
Scope: the tasks cover government bodies, platforms, merchants and industry bodies
- The self-regulation task calls for a national e-commerce industry organisation to be formed.
- The explainer says MOFCOM will work with the relevant departments to put the measures into effect.
- The explainer gives no market figures beyond saying China’s e-commerce market is the largest in the world.
- The published notice sets no numerical targets and no deadlines.
Not disclosed in the source
- A document number, an effective date or an end date
- Numerical targets or evaluation indicators for any task
- Which body leads each task
- How “automatic price-following” is defined and what penalties apply
- Whether specific platforms have been named or consulted
