BEIJING - China will extend the transition period for its supervision of cross-border e-commerce retail imports to the end of 2017 to encourage e-commerce retail consumption, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Tuesday.

The State Council decided that the cross-border e-commerce retail import supervision period would have a one-year transition period, starting from May 11, 2016, during which the pilot supervision model will be rolled out.

The pilot supervision model includes a series of simplified procedures, such as reduced checks on custom access or import permits.

The pilot supervision program, which is being trialled in ten cities including Tianjin, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Zhengzhou, had played an important role in promoting cross-border e-commerce retail imports and encouraging enterprises to be more organized, said the MOC in an online statement.

Thus, the MOC decided, the transition period will be extended to the end of 2017 to ensure a healthy environment for cross-border e-commerce retail imports, said the MOC.