On Nov 16, the city of Chengdu was awarded the honorary title of National E-commerce Model City by the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Commerce and six other ministries.

On the same day, China Unionpay launched a mobile phone service platform for customers.

The two events reflect Chengdu's progression into "a world-class mobile e-commerce industrial base" and "China's leading mobile e-business hall." The city aims to offer more convenience and benefits to the public with its e-commerce construction.

National e-commerce model city

Chengdu is considered a model e-commerce city for six reasons: it has a rapidly growing economy that significantly influences neighboring areas, a strong industrial base, a sound environment for e-commerce development, a complete e-commerce support system, an improved logistics distribution system, and technology and talent support services.

E-commerce transactions

Chengdu's e-commerce transaction value is estimated to exceed 200 billion yuan by the end of this year.

In 2010, Chengdu generated 100 billion yuan in business transactions on the e-commerce platform. The figure amounted to 2.3 percent of the nation's total.

Around 40 percent of small and medium-sized companies in the city currently employ e-commerce platforms, which are accessed by over one million mobile e-commerce users.

To date, Chengdu has attracted the largest number of e-commerce companies. Over 20 leading e-commerce companies have set up regional headquarters and R&D centers in the city. Chengdu is also home to 83 third-party e-commerce platforms with nearly 7,000 companies and more than 30,000 employees. The platforms have indirectly created around 270,000 jobs.

The city has increased funds for e-commerce development from 6 million yuan ($ 950,000) to the current 50 million yuan ($7.87 million).

Since 2009, Chengdu has taken the lead in west China with its e-commerce development plan. Over the last three years, the city has issued policies supporting e-commerce development and constructed e-commerce buildings and incubation quarters.