Rural E-Commerce Warehousing Innovation in China: A Digital, Platform, Collaborative and Green Framework

Sihan Yang; Xuefei Wei; Jiaqi Liao; Manqi Lin; Beiwei Lin; Yi Lin

doi:10.6981/FEM.202611_7(11).0002

Authors

Sihan Yang Guangzhou Maritime University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510725, China
Xuefei Wei Guangzhou Maritime University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510725, China
Jiaqi Liao Guangzhou Maritime University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510725, China
Manqi Lin Guangzhou Maritime University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510725, China
Beiwei Lin Guangzhou Maritime University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510725, China
Yi Lin Guangzhou Maritime University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510725, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6981/FEM.202611_7(11).0002

Keywords:

Collaborative Logistics; Digitalisation; Rural E-commerce; Sustainable Warehousing; Warehousing Platform.

Abstract

Rural e-commerce in China depends on warehouses that can consolidate dispersed orders, handle perishable products and coordinate several logistics providers. This study examines how these functions are organised at county level through a documentary multiple-case study with abductive interpretation. The nine-document corpus comprises six national policy or statistical sources and four county case reports from Hebei, Guangxi and Guizhou; one document serves both national and case roles. The analysis compares facilities, digital systems, asset sharing, governance, environmental practices and reported operating outcomes. It distinguishes four configurations: a shared county warehouse-distribution centre, an origin cold-chain warehouse, a cloud-warehouse node serving several firms and a common-distribution platform with integrated data. A Digitalisation-Platformisation-Collaboration-Greening (DPCG) framework connects these configurations to five proposed mechanisms: lower transaction costs, economies of density, coordination of resources through data, joint governance and reduced product loss. Their usefulness depends on local conditions. Shared facilities need sufficient throughput, digital systems need compatible data standards, and participating organisations need workable rules for allocating costs and benefits. Cold-chain investment also depends on processing capacity and access to markets. The framework offers a basis for comparing county warehousing choices and specifying conditions for further investigation. The cases are drawn from published documentary accounts, including administrative and media reporting; their outcomes were not independently verified, and the analysis does not establish causal effects.

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