DHAKA: China should support its e-commerce industry with preferential policies, given the role it plays in stimulating domestic consumption and economic growth.

China’s State Council said in a paper released on Sunday, reports The Straits Times.

The State Council’s explicit support for the e-commerce industry and the development of related technologies, such as online payment processing and e-commerce logistics, comes as the country’s leadership seeks to stoke domestic consumption amid slowing growth rates.

China’s state media has pointed to the US$9.3 billion worth of goods bought on November 11, the annual online shopping day known as ‘Singles’ Day’, as a sign that Chinese consumers can increasingly become the country’s economic engine even as key sectors such as real estate sputter.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the newly-public US$280 billion e-tailer that has become a champion for China’s tech industry on the global stage, will likely be one of the main beneficiaries of national policies in what is already the world’s second-largest e-commerce market.

BDST: 2100 HRS, NOV 16, 2014