On April 11-12, the 2016 World E-commerce Conference, hosted by the People's Government of Zhejiang Province and co-organized by the E-commerce Committee of the China Association of Trade in Services, the China E-commerce Industry Alliance, and the People's Government of Yiwu, was held at the Yiwu Xingfuhu International Conference Center.
Alexandre Fonseca, President of the Portuguese Digital Economy Association, shared insights into the current state of e-commerce and the digital economy in Portugal, a member state of the European Union. E-commerce Consumer Day has become a traditional local festival in Portugal, where 70% of the total population of 10 million are internet users. The proportion of internet users is expected to reach 95% after 2020.
Alexandre Fonseca introduced that since 2009, the Portuguese government has been required to purchase all products online (mandatory), and all government procurement must be conducted through e-commerce platforms. This has led to the robust development of the entire e-commerce market in Portugal. Due to government procurement, 45 billion euros in expenditures are generated online in Portugal.
In addition, approximately 70% of Portuguese people, including Portuguese immigrants, shop on foreign websites. This means that cross-border shopping is a very normal activity in Portugal, with 25% of international purchases coming from China.