Modal Innovation is New Impetus for Development of E-commerce

APEC is founded in Nov. 1998 in Australia, Canberra. It has reached 2.6 million in population occupying 40% of the world, domestic GDP occupying 56% of the world’ s and the trade volume occupying 48% of the world. Not only a force to be reckoned with， APEC has also developed to be one of the most crucial regional economy group which China already had the formal participant in Nov. 1991.
This time the journalist from Shippingchina.com has the honor to take in interview with Mr. Zhang Nianlu, Secretary-General of APEC E-commerce, to get acknowledge of how the leaders promote the E-commerce.
J: What is the background for APEC E-commerce Business Alliance to be set up? And how is the developing status now?
Mr. Zhang Nianlu: The rise of the E-commerce accelerates the globalization of the economy and trade. It has greatly changed the increasing method of the economy and in certain scale it will also magnificently changed the system and structure of economy worldwide. Leaders of APEC have presented their foresight on the E-commerce. Since 1997, APEC has focused on the regional promotion work for E-commerce in many methods and found APEC E-commerce guiding group in Feb. 1998, then APEC E-commerce Business Alliance in 2001. The foundation of the alliance has exerted an integrating influence upon the regional league to the construction of the platform between enterprises & governments in the Asia-Pacific area and the analysis & research of the existing status and facing problem for the enterprises in this area, meanwhile also has an active effect upon the construction of a smooth, effective & convenient platform and upon creating more business chances to the group members for constant and stable growth.
J: E-commerce already exists as the innovation in the Internet era. Why the “Modal Innovation” is listed again in the third APEC E-commerce Business Alliance Forum’s agenda?
Mr. Zhang Nianlu: E-commerce is the most important technological progeny in the 20th century. It exists, after the former two industrial revolutions, as the new business modal with whose influence is much beyond the E-commerce itself. After the leaders of APEC had passed the APEC E-commerce Action Plan in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in 1998 and on the condition that the global economy is growing smoothly and the internet technology spreads with high speed, the Asia-Pacific area has become the region with the highest speed as the main force for the internet E-commerce’ s development.
Since it originates, E-commerce has passed the process from “simple implementation” to “E-commerce based on internet ” and becomes the common media tool. But since the 21st century, when the electronic information technology has combined with business and even more operations in applying areas, some choke problems appeared, such network trustiness, security, network payment, lag in logistics development, unique standard, imbalance in regional statistics, and incomplete in law. These have become the key sections, which may interfere the further development of the E-commerce. It is required that the international organization, government, enterprises and experts to discuss together in order to explore the minds, the creative modal then find new pulse for the development of E-commerce.
J: The creative essential is the integration and optimization of the new technology, new platform and new process. How will these new actions exert?
Mr. Zhang Nianlu: The modal innovation requires the government and the enterprises to promote together. APEC has bring the promotion and guiding effect to the key parts in the E-commerce development of the regional The let-go strategy carried out by the Japanese government for enterprises and agency organizations in the E-commerce development has led the information construction to such a lone way that this strategy has restricted the development of the E-commerce. When this problem is discovered the government raises the E-Japan strategy for the unique plan, which makes Japan get on the fast and efficient track of the information construction. For South Korea and Singapore, the government has been taking the unique strategy together with the government leaded and the enterprises operated strategy, which avoid the reconstruction and the differ in standards, which results a comparatively smooth development.
From 1995 to 2001, Chinese government has laid the national public communication network as the basis, the national “Jinguan” project as the representative, the management service of the international business and economy as the main content to construct the series of “Jinzi Project” and lay the foundation of our national E-commerce development. Since 2003, Chinese E-commerce has entered the application stage and though in this period the E-commerce construction’s main carrying body is transferred from the government to the enterprise, it still needs the government’s leading to avoid reconstruction, to provide complete service function, safeguard platform and statistics security and to solve the information sole inland, raise idea acknowledge and to promote the E-commerce’ s rapid application.
Enterprises, especially the enterprises with middle and small scale ones, should explore the E-commerce transformation strategy, which is suitable for its own development, in the practice process for the modal innovation. The transition in the network-economy environment is a new challenge, which has never been encountered before. There is no existing experience to borrow, either no unique fixed transition form. It requires innovative thought on the dynamic situation to change the strategy. The electronic business platform, which opens on May 18th, has applied the government invested, construction outsourced and enterprise benefited as the construction method and it has realized the all-win situation between government, enterprises and service providers. The regional electronic modal has the innovation and this has been implemented as the successful case of the Chinese Commercial Ministry national wide, which has won the positive response from the representatives of the business department managers of those enterprises and different provinces/areas, and also the industry experts.     
J: How does the E-commerce modal innovation of development become together with the target and tenet of the APEC E-commerce Business Alliance?
Mr. Zhang Nianlu: Since the foundation of this alliance in 2004 we have the league forum once two years which has constructed a effective communication platform for the government, enterprises and other organizations in order to build the active and healthy E-commerce developing environment in APEC region. On the third forum held on June 5th, in face of many chock points appeared in the developing process, the model innovation theme has been fixed which is the extension and exaltation for the themes of the last two forums and presents that the APEC E-commerce Business Alliance Forum pays great attention to the practical guidance to the E-commerce application for enterprises. APEC has been carrying on the tenet of “promote communication cooperation, improve the trading environment and serve for the industry and business” all the time and working with great effort to promote the APEC E-commerce’ s application and the construct the active and healthy E-commerce developing environment.
J: What expectation do you have upon the development of the APEC E-commerce Business Alliance’s development? What is the comment for the forum this year?
Mr. Zhang Nianlu: Strategic foresight and the concrete attitude are the main working methods for APEC E-commerce Business Alliance. According to the innovative working method, the third APEC E-commerce Business Alliance Forum is a crucial international conference held by the Chinese government in 2008. All the subjects’ discussion results will be submitted to the ministry conferences of APEC officials and APEC ministry conferences held in Peru in 2008 to provide important basis for making policies. I believe that the APEC E-commerce Business Alliance Forum will add new impetus for the economy development in the Asia-Pacific Region.