Three government agencies including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security have jointly released new occupations and new types of professions derived from existing occupations. Among them, “livestreaming salesperson” is added as a new profession under the category of “Internet marketers,” meaning the likes of “e-commerce hosts” and “online celebrities selling products” now have an official occupational title.

The development has partly underscored the explosive growth of the livestreaming economy. According to data from iiMedia Research, domestic livestreaming e-commerce market has quickly jumped from 19 billion yuan in 2019 to 433.8 billion yuan in 2019, while the market size for 2020 is expected to reach 961 billion yuan, up 122 percent year on year. Based on recent statistics from the June 18 promotional campaign, transaction volume via Taobao Live has surpassed 5.1 billion yuan on that day alone.

In crisis lie opportunities, and turbulences breed new changes. From talent to policy, from capital to industry, and from technology to supporting measures, all provinces and municipalities have given all-rounded, all-weather support to the development of the livestreaming economy. “Guangzhou Livestreaming E-commerce Development Action Plan (2020-2022)” has put forward the idea of constructing the city into a “livestreaming e-commerce metropolis”; The city of Chongqing’s “2111” plan has vowed to make the annual transaction volume via livestream-backed e-commerce top 10 billion yuan, truly turning Chongqing into a city of livestreaming application and innovation; Jinan has strived to build a headquarters base for the livestreaming economy, whereas Qingdao aims to become a leading city in livestreaming in North China. Hangzhou plans to foster 1,000 livestreaming-related enterprises, 1,000 livestreaming e-commerce brands, 1,000 influential online hosts, as well as a batch of provincial-level livestreaming industrial bases and public livestreaming showrooms dedicated to characteristic industries.

Amid fierce competition, the most competent one manages to gain an early foothold. The Double Five Shopping Festival has helped consolidate Shanghai’s fame as the “No. 1 City for Quality Livestreaming”. In addition, compared with other cities, Shanghai has advantages in solid new infrastructure, flexible talent policies, abundant commercial resources and brands, and a more vibrant closed loop for the livestreaming ecosystem in a bid to cement the “top livestreaming city” title.

Livestreaming is a natural product of big data and internet development. With its leapfrogging advancement, livestreaming has presented an ever-growing demand for big data, online traffic and even smart application scenarios. Meanwhile, Shanghai has long prepared itself with solid new infrastructures: the city is home to the nation’s first railway station built with 5G indoor networks, the first district globally with 5G coverage, and the first “5G+Five-Star Shopping Center” worldwide. These 5G application scenarios unlocked step by step have provided even broader space for the livestreaming economy. Beyond that, in the “35 Measures on New Infrastructure Construction” released by the Shanghai Municipal Government on May 7, the city has vowed to expand the scale and upgrade the innovation capability of its new infrastructure to international first-class in three years. The livestreaming skyscraper can realize its lofty goals only if the new infrastructure foundation is carefully laid.