Research Hotspots, Frontiers, and Evolutionary Trends of Rural E-Commerce in China: A CiteSpace-Based Analysis

Yu Jia; Qin Wang

doi:10.54691/c5gc1h17

Authors

Yu Jia College of Applied Science and Technology, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100101, China
Qin Wang College of Applied Science and Technology, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100101, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54691/c5gc1h17

Keywords:

Rural E-commerce; Knowledge Mapping; Research Hotspots; Research Frontiers; CiteSpace.

Abstract

Rural e-commerce has attracted sustained scholarly attention in China as digital platforms, logistics networks, and rural development policies have become increasingly interconnected. Yet the field has expanded so rapidly that its internal structure and changing research agenda are not easily captured through a conventional literature review. This study therefore examines 734 publications retrieved from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) for the period 2016–2025. Bibliometric statistics and CiteSpace visualization are used to analyze publication output, institutional and author collaboration, keyword clusters, citation bursts, and the temporal development of major themes. The findings indicate that the literature grew rapidly during the first half of the period and later entered a stage of slower but more differentiated development. Universities and research institutes remain the principal contributors, although the low-density collaboration networks show that cooperation across institutions and research teams is still limited. Four broad areas dominate the literature: the development and operation of rural e-commerce, its relationship with rural revitalization, its effects on industrial and rural economic development, and the role of digital platforms and supporting technologies. Frontier topics have also changed over time. Earlier studies concentrated on logistics, platform access, poverty alleviation, and development models, whereas more recent work has paid greater attention to development outcomes, regional heterogeneity, digital inclusion, and common prosperity. These changes suggest that research on rural e-commerce in China is moving beyond the description of development pathways toward closer examination of mechanisms, outcomes, and distributional consequences. By linking thematic structure with temporal change, this study provides a clearer account of how the field has developed and identifies several directions that warrant further investigation.

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