This is Purbaya's Strategy to Counter the Flood of Chinese Goods on E-Commerce
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has received numerous complaints from the public regarding the dominance of traders from China on domestic marketplaces. These complaints were voiced during a live broadcast on TikTok by Purbaya’s son, @yudapurboyosunu, some time ago.
One TikTok user, during a live session with the Finance Minister, stated that the most dominant players in the marketplace are importers operating as official stores.
“So if they are official stores, they will dominate, Sir. Their prices can be more competitive and so on, Sir. That’s what makes it impossible for us small traders to compete, Sir,” said one TikTok account, quoted on Wednesday (25/3/2026).
Thus, the presence of e-commerce can kill off small business actors if not properly regulated. Even many retail business operators have closed down because they could not withstand the competition.
“In terms of price, in terms of support, it’s cut off, Sir. That’s what actually makes online platforms not build MSMEs, Sir. To be honest, if e-commerce is not regulated, it actually kills MSMEs, Sir,” he said.
In response, Purbaya admitted he is thinking about returning major Indonesian marketplaces to domestic ownership.
One of them is Tokopedia, an Indonesian e-commerce giant now with the majority of its shares held by ByteDance, a Chinese technology company.
“I’m thinking about how to return the marketplaces. Not just those controlled by China, for example, Tokopedia is controlled by China, right,” he said to reporters after Id prayers at the DJP Mosque, Jakarta, on Saturday (21/3/2026).
He stated that if marketplace ownership is controlled by foreign companies, the profits will flow out of Indonesia. “How can it be called digitalisation if it’s like that, it seems like directly giving the market to China,” he added.
He also admitted to efforts to revive domestic companies to compete with Chinese firms in the market.
“I’m thinking of domestic companies that can be revived to become competition against Chinese dominance,” he explained.