E-Commerce Education in China: Driving Forces, Status, and Strategies

Abstract

With an explosive growth of e-businesses worldwide, e-commerce in China is booming, leading to the development of e-commerce education. This paper is intended to investigate whether the education system in China accords well with the market demand and the status of e-commerce programs in China in order to seek strategies for China to cope with the challenges of global e-commerce empowered by fast updated information technologies. First, we construct a four-layer conceptual model to describe the relevant factors influencing e-commerce and e-commerce education. We then present the status of China’s e-commerce education in different educational categories. Although we find that current problems in China’s e-commerce education can be resorted in quantity and quality aspects, it generally is on the right track. Finally, we propose several main strategies for promoting the development of e-commerce education, in which the education system reformation is top priority and in which the government will play a critical role.