General

With the intensification and deepening of world globalization, more and more products will be purchased from non domestic sources. The business opportunities brought by this for importers and exporters to engage in international trade will also become increasingly attractive. One of the main reasons for the rapid development of international trade is the emergence of the Internet and the use of e-commerce, as this latest operating method has greatly saved time, cost, and energy.

For China, the same is true. With China becoming a full member of the WTO, the existing trade barriers will gradually disappear, and the price and quality advantages of "Made in China" products will attract more buyers/importers from around the world. Using traditional methods to engage in international trade is clearly far from meeting the needs of millions of Chinese exporters/suppliers to expand overseas markets, nor can it meet the needs of importers/buyers to find Chinese suppliers that meet their price, quality, packaging, delivery and other requirements. The use of e-commerce seems to have become an inevitable trend.

However, the application of e-commerce in international trade is not as simple as imagining a supplier establishing their own company's website, where importers/buyers around the world can search for the supplier's products, and then send inquiries, inquiries, request samples, etc. until the contract is signed, freight is arranged, payment is received, and so on. The development of international trade requires importers/buyers and exporters/suppliers to have their own independent commercial purposes. Only by organically connecting the goals of both parties can trade unfold. Similarly, the use of the Internet and e-commerce to optimize international trade processes also requires the independent commercial purposes of importers/buyers and exporters/suppliers to be interconnected through the Internet, using new technological means, software, services, and supporting processes, in order for both parties to achieve their respective goals.

Generally speaking, importers/buyers hope to be able to:

1) Find the most suitable supplier for the purchased products

2) Compare and evaluate the product characteristics and company capabilities of different suppliers

3) Obtain the latest and most timely information from suppliers

4) Search for the products to be purchased in the fastest and easiest way possible through the recognized product classification methods of importers/buyers and the most commonly used vocabulary in the industry.

Exporters/suppliers hope to use e-commerce to:

1) Obtain more information about our company's products and develop these inquiries into new businesses

2) Establishing and maintaining one's own brand in different geographical regions of the world

3) Present the latest company and product introductions to importers/buyers anytime they need them

4) Stay informed of market conditions, development trends, importer/buyer needs, peer events, and more.

Therefore, both exporters/suppliers and importers/buyers face challenges in using e-commerce for international trade. Exporters/suppliers must display their products and company introductions on the internet as soon as possible; Importers/buyers must collect and edit supplier information into a common format for comparison. The completion of all this requires extremely high technical requirements. When considering the integration of e-commerce with international trade, it is important to carefully consider how to organically integrate and coordinate the goals of importers/buyers and exporters/suppliers through e-commerce. While considering the interests of importers/buyers, it also provides a platform for suppliers to achieve their goals. Otherwise, an e-commerce platform that has cost a lot of manpower, material resources, financial resources, and time will be difficult to achieve the expected results.