El Corte Inglés Málaga will host the conference "La nueva era del comercio en China: retail, e-commerce, social commerce y local commerce" on Thursday, October 22, at 6:00 p.m. The talk will be delivered by Chen Yu, Head of Digital at Laboratorios Phergal. The event is part of the 18th Lecture Series "El comercio que viene: tendencias, mercados y nuevos modelos", organised by the Cátedra de Comercio y Transformación Digital.

China has become one of the world’s most dynamic and innovative markets in the transformation of commerce. In just a few years, it has evolved from the rapid growth of e-commerce and major online marketplaces into a much more integrated ecosystem, where content, recommendations, entertainment, shopping and physical experiences are increasingly interconnected.

The conference will explore this evolution through examples and business models developed in the Chinese market, focusing particularly on the rise of social commerce, livestream shopping, content creators and recommendation algorithms. Consumers no longer simply search actively for products; they also discover them through new digital environments that combine inspiration and purchasing in a single experience.

Chen Yu will also discuss the development of local commerce, which connects major digital platforms with shops, restaurants and neighbourhood services. The session will offer an opportunity to reflect on how the boundaries between physical retail, e-commerce and social media are becoming increasingly blurred, as well as on the lessons these changes can offer for anticipating the future of commerce in Spain and Europe.

The event will be introduced by Dr Sebastián Molinillo Jiménez, Director of the Cátedra de Comercio y Transformación Digital.