Green vision

As the world's second-largest consumer market and the largest online retail market, China has introduced various policies in recent years to encourage and support green consumption and promote the recycling of unused items.

"In recent years, our country has been advocating the concept of sustainable living and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles. Whether from the corporate level, the government level, or the public welfare sector, there has been increasing promotion of more environmentally friendly consumption attitudes, which are becoming deeply rooted in people's mindset," Jiang said.

In July 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the 14th Five-Year Plan for Circular Economy Development, explicitly encouraging the development of the "internet plus secondhand" model, strengthening the management responsibilities of internet trading platforms, and enhancing the oversight of such trading to provide standardized and regulated services for secondhand goods transactions.

"Establishing a sound recycling system for waste materials is of great significance for achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and the trading of idle goods is also an important measure to help achieve these 'dual carbon' goals," said Du Huanzheng, director of the Institute of Ecological Civilization and Circular Economy at Tongji University in Shanghai.

In 2022, the NDRC and the Ministry of Commerce, along with other departments, issued the Implementation Plan for Promoting Green Consumption. The plan proposed the expansion of channels for the sharing and utilization of idle resources and secondhand transactions.

"People's mindset toward using secondhand products is gradually shifting, and the volume of secondhand transactions is increasing, corresponding to supply and demand," Du said.

"With more standardized trading platforms emerging in China, this signals that the secondhand market will definitely be a future lifestyle trend."

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