It is necessary to pay attention to and help small and medium-sized enterprises solve the issue of long account periods.

When consumers enjoy the convenience and discounts of shopping on e-commerce platforms, they may not realize that the joy of increased sales volume for the enterprise promoting the products through the platform is not felt in a timely manner. Payment terms, a term unfamiliar to many consumers, but indeed the key to the development of enterprises. Typically, after signing a purchase contract with an e-commerce platform, even if the goods have all entered the platform's self-operated warehouse, the full payment will not be settled to the enterprise immediately. The period that the enterprise waits to receive the payment is called the payment term. The original meaning of the payment term was a form of credit limit. Retailers could purchase goods from enterprises or wholesalers, receive the goods before payment, save a large amount of capital, and facilitate turnover. In the past, in this supply-demand relationship, enterprises or wholesalers held the dominant position. However, with the iteration of consumption patterns, e-commerce platforms have become the main outlet for product sales, and as the e-commerce platforms for retailers become the dominant force, they have begun to dominate the market. Therefore, the payment term has become the period that the enterprise waits to receive the payment, rather than a credit period to help retailers ease financial pressure. However, enterprises or wholesalers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, often face greater financial pressure than e-commerce platforms, and their situation is often overlooked. This is not conducive to market prosperity, and even more detrimental to the development of the private economy. Currently, long payment terms for e-commerce platforms have become the industry norm. Especially in the self-operated model of e-commerce platforms, the payment terms are longer than the industry average, which has become an important factor affecting the operation of merchants and the healthy development of the industry. The earlier, "Finance" magazine wrote, "The excessively long settlement period is another tumor in the Chinese business environment, with the main victims being small and medium-sized enterprises, and the main perpetrators being large enterprises, especially certain industry leaders." For enterprise development, the importance of cash flow is equivalent to a person's blood. If funds cannot circulate, the enterprise will obviously find it difficult to continue. Recently held discussions on private enterprises emphasized the need to solve the problem of overdue payments to private enterprises. The Third Plenary Session of the Twentieth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly stated the need to improve the legal system regarding the payment of overdue debts to enterprises. Recently, to promote timely payment to small and medium-sized enterprises by government, public institutions, and large enterprises, and to protect the legitimate rights and interests of small and medium-sized enterprises, the revised "Regulations on the Payment of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Debts" were passed and will be implemented starting from June 1, 2025. When asked by reporters about the revision of the "Regulations on the Payment of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Debts", the heads of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology clearly stated that the central government and the State Council attach great importance to solving the problem of overdue payments to enterprises. The revision of the regulations specifically targets the problem of "under the influence of complex domestic and international situations, the scale of receivables for small and medium-sized enterprises has increased, and the payment terms have lengthened, making the problem of 'chain debts' more prominent". Currently, some e-commerce platforms have actively responded to the call from the central government. On April 15th, Meituan released its instant retail brand "Meituan Flash Purchase". Some media noticed that Meituan Flash Purchase has been providing the shortest payment term in the industry of only 3 days to platform merchants and supports instant withdrawals, always committed to creating business volume for merchants and helping them reduce operating costs. The 3-day extremely short payment term is 2 months shorter than the average repayment period of self-operated express e-commerce platforms, allowing physical merchants to have more stable cash flow and faster inventory turnover. In China, the private economy is an important force in economic and social development. The vast number of small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the development of the private economy. China's industrial chain and supply chain are at the top of the world, benefiting greatly from the millions of small and medium-sized enterprises. It is generally believed that the private economy contributes more than 50% of tax revenue, more than 60% of domestic gross domestic product, more than 70% of technological innovation results, and more than 80% of urban labor employment. Therefore, at this moment, actively addressing excessive foreign tariffs, boosting domestic consumption, and promoting the development of the private economy, shortening the payment term, timely returning funds, and providing cash flow support to small and medium-sized enterprises can help them develop better. In the long run, the market cannot do without both large platforms and small and medium-sized enterprises; the two are interdependent. Platforms that squeeze small and medium-sized enterprises with excessively long payment terms will ultimately end up losing more than they gain. (Deputy Dean of the Institute of Internet Economy at the Central University of Finance and Economics, Vice President of the China Marketing Society Ouyang Rihui) This article is reproduced from China Economic Net, GMTEight Editor: Chen Yufeng.