Cross-border e-commerce： bringing China closer to the world.

The "Several Policies and Measures on Promoting the Stable Growth of Foreign Trade" issued by the Ministry of Commerce recently proposed to promote the development of cross-border e-commerce. The status and importance of cross-border e-commerce does not stop there. At present, it has been included as a new clause in some newly signed and escalating bilateral free trade agreements.

In recent years, new foreign trade formats and new modes have emerged in China, especially cross-border e-commerce, which has become a "new engine" to stimulate foreign trade growth with its rapid development. Relying on strong supply capacity, faster customs clearance efficiency and more cost-effective customized services, cross-border e-commerce is promoting more China products to link to the global market. Cross-border packages smoothly shuttle between more countries and regions, bringing China closer to the world.

"New clause" of FTA

Data show that in the first three quarters of this year, the import and export of cross-border e-commerce in China increased by 11.5% year-on-year, accounting for nearly 6% of China’s foreign trade. As a new format and model in the field of foreign trade, the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce is a pragmatic achievement of China’s continuous expansion of high-level opening-up and promotion of bilateral and multilateral economic and trade cooperation.

On November 14th, China and Peru signed a protocol to upgrade the FTA, adding five chapters to the original FTA, including e-commerce. On August 22nd, the joint communique between China and the Belarusian government pointed out that the two sides will strengthen cooperation in the field of e-commerce and encourage Belarusian enterprises to enter the major e-commerce platforms in China … Recently, the newly signed bilateral free trade agreement or the upgraded free trade agreement has included cross-border e-commerce as a new clause, which has injected momentum into the development of cross-border e-commerce between China and its free trade partners.

"The inclusion of cross-border e-commerce as a new clause in the bilateral free trade agreement has released a new signal that China attaches great importance to the role of cross-border e-commerce in international trade and regards it as an important tool to promote trade liberalization and facilitation." Hong Yong, a think tank expert of China Digital and Real Integration 50 Forum, told the International Business Daily reporter.

"This is a very positive signal." Wang Chunming, executive director and general manager of Harbin Fuhuo International Supply Chain Co., Ltd., told the International Business Daily that the inclusion of cross-border e-commerce in the terms of the bilateral free trade agreement not only simplifies the trade process of enterprises, reduces the barriers to cross-border transactions of enterprises, but also deepens the cooperation between enterprises and other countries in e-commerce. "On the other hand, this move also shows that while promoting the high-quality development of foreign trade, China has taken the digital economy and cross-border e-commerce as a key link in its future development, which is bound to promote more enterprises to participate in the international market."

In Hong Yong’s view, this move also reflects China’s determination to play a more active role in global digital economic governance and trade rule-making. "China has always been committed to jointly formulating rules through international cooperation to promote the healthy and orderly development of cross-border e-commerce."

Cross-border e-commerce "acceleration"

"Our e-commerce sales have nearly tripled year-on-year, and the logistics speed has been shortened from more than 40 days to about 25 days now." Wang Chunming said that the company’s latest batch of orders were delivered from Belarus to Erenhot, and the goods were distributed to all parts of the country after unloading. "Five cars were delivered this morning, and four cars will be’ taken’ later."

There are many foreign trade enterprises like Wang Chunming that enjoy the dividend of cross-border e-commerce development. In Guangzhou and Baiyun Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone, batches of small packages imported directly by cross-border e-commerce such as beauty and skin care products and clothing accessories were sorted and sent to all parts of the country. In Sichuan, in eight provincial-level cross-border e-commerce industrial parks, 400 cross-border e-commerce source factories operate efficiently, and batches of products with Bashu characteristics go overseas from here.

Since 2014, cross-border e-commerce has been written into the government work report for 11 consecutive years. From 1.06 trillion yuan in 2018 to 2.38 trillion yuan in 2023, the import and export of cross-border e-commerce in China increased by 1.2 times in five years.

Hong Yong believes that the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce in China is mainly due to its ability to effectively reduce transaction costs, shorten transaction chains, improve transaction efficiency, and meet the personalized and diversified needs of consumers.

According to customs statistics, in the first eight months of this year, there were 630,000 foreign trade business entities with import and export performance in China, up 8.8% year-on-year. According to preliminary statistics, the number of cross-border e-commerce entities in China has exceeded 120,000, and the number of cross-border e-commerce industrial parks has exceeded 1,000. Relying on 165 cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test zones in China, cross-border e-commerce has driven more enterprises from various industrial belts to participate in international trade.

Wang Chunming said that these data reflect the great changes in global consumption and trade patterns. "In the past, international trade mainly relied on traditional channels and logistics models. Nowadays, consumers can purchase global goods more conveniently through e-commerce platforms, and enterprises can also use e-commerce platforms to break geographical restrictions and enter the international market."

However, the industry has also noticed that the development of cross-border e-commerce still faces some challenges, such as the inconvenience of cross-border exchange, the need to improve cross-border e-commerce service capabilities, and differences in laws and regulations. In the next step, how to promote the "new engine" with high quality is the key to the industry’s stability and far-reaching.

In this regard, Wang Chunming suggested: First, strengthen policy coordination with other countries, increase the promotion of overseas markets, and promote more cross-border e-commerce enterprises to enter the international market. The second is to promote the combination of cross-border e-commerce platforms and localized services to help domestic enterprises better adapt to the international market, especially to provide more support in product compliance and payment security. "Only when policy, technology and market work together can we provide a better ecological environment for cross-border e-commerce and further promote its healthy and sustainable development."

Hong Yong suggested that the first is to strengthen infrastructure construction, such as improving domestic and international logistics networks and improving the security and convenience of cross-border payment systems. The second is to optimize the policy environment and reduce the operating costs of cross-border e-commerce enterprises through measures such as decentralization and reduction of examination and approval links. The third is to strengthen personnel training and technical support, establish a training mechanism for cross-border e-commerce professionals, and promote the application of technological innovation. Fourth, strengthen international cooperation, actively participate in the formulation of international rules, and create a fairer and more transparent external environment for cross-border e-commerce enterprises.