Shanghai aims to generate 600 billion yuan ($84.2 billion) in retail revenue from live-streaming e-commerce by 2026, according to a three-year action plan (2024-26) released on Sept 2.

By 2026, the city plans to establish 10 leading live-streaming platforms with international competitiveness, develop a series of influential multichannel network agencies to manage livestreamers, create domestically well-known live-streaming event IP brands across various categories, and introduce 100 distinctive live-streaming scenarios.

The objective of the plan is to accelerate the high-quality growth of Shanghai's live streaming economy.

In 2023, Shanghai's live-streaming retail sales reached 437.1 billion yuan, accounting for 10.7 percent of the national total, making it the top-ranking city in China. Shanghai has become a hub for leading live-streaming platforms like Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, Pinduoduo and Ximalaya, further solidifying its position as an industry leader.

However, challenges such as insufficient concentration, inadequate talent cultivation, high business costs, and underdeveloped MCN agencies, call for urgent solutions.

Cao Yuanhao, secretary-general of the Shanghai Live-Streaming E-commerce Alliance, noted that the action plan, will lay a solid foundation for the high-quality development of the industry.

The plan targets all the four key elements of the live streaming economy:  brand owners, platforms, MCN agencies, and livestreamers.

Research has shown that high-quality local products from Shanghai are difficult to find within the vast array of live-streaming rooms across various platforms.

To address this issue, the action plan encourages live-streaming platforms to integrate more deeply into the city's industrial and supply chains. It also supports manufacturing enterprises in using live streaming to promote original designs, build brands, and foster innovative products.

The plan aims to connect live-streaming platforms and MCN agencies with local specialty industries and products. Additionally, it encourages the development of e-commerce demonstration villages in rural areas to expand the sales channels for unique agricultural products through live streaming.

To further develop platforms and MCN agencies, Shanghai plans to establish the Shanghai International Alliance for MCN Development and Services.

The city will also create distinctive live-streaming clusters in Changning, Yangpu, and Songjiang districts, as well as in the Hongqiao International Central Business District.

To encourage cross-border e-commerce enterprises to lawfully conduct their live streaming businesses, the plan suggests that if foreign live-streaming talents are needed, industry supervisory departments can assess and recommend potential employees as high-end foreign talents to facilitate the issuance of work permits.