General

Pinduoduo cross-border e-commerce business "entered" Australia, and ByteDance cross-border e-commerce business entered Southeast Asia... China's e-commerce giant's "going to sea" territory accelerated its expansion.

Industry insiders pointed out that cross-border e-commerce, as a new form of foreign trade, is playing an increasingly important role in helping to maintain stability and improve the quality of international trade. It is recommended to accelerate the filling of weaknesses in talent, digital infrastructure, and other aspects.

Expansion of e-commerce "going to sea" territory

With the rapid development of the cross-border e-commerce industry, the "going to sea" of China's e-commerce platforms has accelerated, and the overseas territory continues to expand.

Last September, Pinduoduoduo launched the cross-border e-commerce platform TEMU in North America; In March this year, TEMU officially entered Australia and New Zealand. According to the person in charge of Pinduoduo, up to now, TEMU has achieved full coverage of domestic manufacturing categories, and has successively promoted tens of thousands of manufacturing enterprises to successfully "go to sea" in clothing, digital, household appliances, luggage, outdoor, accessories, toys, stationery, and other fields.

ByteDance's e-commerce platform TikTok Shop recently announced that it will officially launch the mall function in Thailand, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian regions.

Alibaba's cross-border e-commerce platform "Global Express" launched a new service "Choice" in the Korean market this year and has become one of the most popular e-commerce platforms in South Korea. According to reports, AliExpress has covered more than 220 countries and regions around the world, with 18 language versions.

As the overseas territory of e-commerce platforms continues to expand, their service capabilities also continue to increase. "In order to help cross-border merchants and small and medium-sized enterprises solve the biggest pain point in cross-border retailing - logistics, Quicksell and Cainiao have built 28 overseas warehouses in 9 countries and regions, with a total area of over 860000 square meters." The relevant person in charge of Alibaba said.

The relevant person in charge of Pinduoduo pointed out that TEMU will provide integrated "going to sea" solutions for "going to sea" enterprises, including language and culture, product standards, intellectual property services, legal assistance, international trade arbitration, etc.

Zhong Zeyu, Vice President and Secretary General of the China Association of Service Trade, pointed out that cross-border e-commerce has prominent competitive advantages due to its prominent features such as online marketing, cloud trading, and contactless delivery. Currently, China ranks first in the world in terms of cross-border e-commerce market size, innovation activity, digital application, and other indicators, and has strong international trade competitiveness.

Boost the stability and quality of foreign trade

Many enterprises say that cross-border e-commerce platforms have become an important way for them to obtain orders.

"During the Spring Festival, the company's salespeople have never stopped receiving orders online. We calculated that they received orders of more than 3 million dollars during the Spring Festival." Zhao Yunqi, the general manager of Hefei Nwei Technology Co., Ltd., said that the company has already scheduled its orders for March, and basically sends a batch to overseas warehouses after completing production.

"Since January, we have received orders for 1700 micro excavators, an increase of 30% to 40% compared to the same period last year." Yu Hongxiao, the sales manager of the Rhino Heavy Industry brand, said that during the Spring Festival, overseas customers who have just completed the Christmas holiday began to enter the procurement state, and the entire sales team is almost in a state of online order taking during the Spring Festival.

The new format of cross-border e-commerce has promoted the digital transformation of international trade enterprises. "The production line of Hangzhou Lampard Sports Goods Co., Ltd. is urgently seeking" customization personnel. "CEO Jin Feiyan of the company said, 'We often receive customized team uniforms from some cycling teams on cross-border e-commerce platforms.'". Although the demand is diverse, the profit is much higher than traditional batch orders, which is a new profit growth point.

The cross-border e-commerce industry has also "brought fire" to the profession of cross-border anchor. "Currently, the foreign trade industry has a very urgent demand for overseas new media operation talents. We recently established a new cross-border e-commerce new media operation team, preparing to recruit 20 to 30 people." Luo Chang, General Manager of Shenzhen Shuoteng Technology Co., Ltd., said that more than 80% of the cross-border e-commerce business of enterprises comes from Alibaba International Station, and in the future, enterprises will increase investment in cross-border live streaming on Alibaba International Station, while operating their overseas social media accounts.

Shortcomings in the industry need to be supplemented

Industry experts pointed out that China's cross-border e-commerce industry is in a period of rapid development, but there are still shortcomings in talent and digital infrastructure. It is recommended to take multiple measures to accelerate and improve relevant construction and complement the shortcomings.

Zhong Zeyu pointed out that the lack of professional talents has become an obstacle to the development of the cross-border e-commerce industry. In a survey conducted by the China Service Trade Association, it was found that among the most important factors causing pressure on enterprise development, team talent issues accounted for 65.35%, far higher than market competition and supply chain factors.

Zhong Zeyu proposed to promote the development of cross-border e-commerce professional standards and explore a new mechanism for industry-education integration and common education. "Currently, about 500 universities have opened cross-border e-commerce majors, with their respective teaching outlines, teaching models, knowledge points, and skill exercises. By formulating professional standards and promoting the integration of industry and education, it will be beneficial for domestic universities to cultivate more high-quality talents," said Zhong Zeyu.

Jiang Haoran, Chairman of Hengyin Financial Technology Co., Ltd., said that the current development of China's cross-border e-commerce industry faces shortcomings such as insufficient international discourse power and insufficient investment in digital infrastructure. It is recommended to promote the construction of a modern logistics network operating system of "channels+hubs+networks", establish a global logistics and transportation network focusing on overseas warehouses and trunk transportation in key countries and regions, promote the deep integration of digital technology and overseas infrastructure, and further reduce cross-border e-commerce logistics costs.

Jiang Haoran also suggested that relevant departments promote international mutual recognition of electronic transmission tariff free, digital certificates, electronic signatures, etc., to facilitate the "sailing" of small and medium-sized international trading enterprises, and provide timely training on digital systems for government enterprise cooperation.