Rural e‐commerce in China: Spatial dynamics of Taobao Villages development in Zhejiang Province

Abstract

The fast-growing e-commerce has dramatically changed the economic structure of China's rural area. As a unique example, Taobao Villages present a brand-new model to adopt globalization's penetration to achieve rural-urban integration and rural revitalization for developing countries. This study analyzes the spatial trajectory and dynamics of the Taobao Villages development in Zhejiang Province during 2014-2020. We found that these villages were expanding toward the downtown areas of cities, which led to a new pattern of urban-rural division. By constructing panel regression models, we further found that orthodox location factors such as land cost, transportation, and agglomeration played a dominant role in villages' spatial expansion and growth. Regional factors like industrial foundation and labor were also important. These findings suggest that the Taobao Villages in Zhejiang have been upgraded from isolated workshops in rural areas to small manufacturers' clusters and further incorporated into the global urban economy. To better guide and coordinate the development of Taobao Villages, local governments might need to construct ecommerce parks to achieve an agglomeration economy and industrial upgrading.

Study on the mode of Elderly Tourism & Dwelling in Zhejiang traditional village based on push and pull theory

“…Due to geographical and historical factors, traditional villages in northern Zhejiang region are scattered in distribution, traditional villages in southern Zhejiang region are relatively concentrated, overall, it presents a characteristic of dispersion in the north and concentration in the south (Lin, 2015). The signi cant differences in geographical and historical factors between northern and southern regions of Zhejiang indicate, each traditional village in Zhejiang has distinct regional characteristics and different emphasis.…”

The effects of Taobao villages’ spatiotemporal agglomeration on urbanization: A case study of Quanzhou, Fujian

“…E-commerce reconfigures the socioeconomic environment and physical space of rural areas. Through the Internet and logistics networks, the development of Taobao villages has directly connected a large number of scattered rural areas in China to modern society, freeing them from their isolation from or dependence on urban development for industrial and transportation reasons, thus providing a new path toward rural revitalization (Lin et al, 2022).…”

“…Perspectives on the relation between Taobao villages and urbanization are complex. Some studies have discussed the theoretical possibility of Taobao villages contributing to the urbanization level (Lin, 2019;Wang et al, 2021); others have found spillover effects of urbanization in suburban Taobao villages (Lin et al, 2022), and even some Taobao villages far from cities have been urbanized from below (Leong et al, 2016). The influence of Taobao villages on the development of urbanization is worth exploring.…”

The Influence of Digital Literacy on the Phenomenon of Deviation between Farmers’ E-Commerce Sales Willingness and Behavior: Evidence from Rural China

“…E-commerce, a key aspect of the digital economy, enhances production efficiency [2], improves consumer experiences [3], and fosters innovation and employment [4]. In rural areas, e-commerce offers farmers broader markets and more efficient sales channels [5,6], leading to higher incomes for adopters compared to non-adopters. Studies confirm this significant income increase [7].…”