General

2023 is an important milestone for global retail e-commerce from volatility to stabilization, "Song Xiaojun, Vice President of Amazon China and Head of Amazon's Global Store Expansion for Chinese Sellers, stated at the 7th Global Cross border E-commerce Summit held recently that in the past few years, global online consumption has experienced great ups and downs due to the impact of the epidemic, and global cross-border e-commerce has experienced rapid development in the early stages of the epidemic and a decline in the later stages, The growth rate in 2023 is expected to return to pre pandemic levels, reaching 17%.

Song Xiaojun stated that the compound annual growth rate of global retail e-commerce is expected to remain above double digits in the next five years. Among them, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, Eastern Europe and other regions will lead the global growth rate; The e-commerce development in emerging markets such as Brazil, the Middle East, Türkiye, India and Mexico will be more eye-catching. At the same time, the penetration rate of e-commerce retail in various parts of the world is still relatively low. Except for China, most countries, including consumer powerhouses such as the United States, Germany, and Japan, have e-commerce penetration rates of only over 10%, with some countries in single digits. These have created enormous growth potential for overseas e-commerce and also enhanced the certainty of strong cross-border e-commerce development.

In recent years, China's cross-border e-commerce exports have shown strong resilience. "In Song Xiaojun's view, Chinese cross-border e-commerce enterprises initially focused on consumer electronics and clothing categories, while in the past few years, during the epidemic, they have fully blossomed in categories such as home, kitchen, pets, outdoor, and sports. Recently, Chinese cross-border e-commerce enterprises have gained popularity in the international trade market with emerging categories such as large-scale IP trendy gaming, fitness equipment, and energy storage, opening up new growth paths for the industry's development.

Global e-commerce looks at China, while Chinese e-commerce looks at Hangzhou. Wang Yongfang, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce, released the "Development Report of the New City of E-commerce" at the meeting. He stated that in 2022, the transaction volume of Hangzhou e-commerce platforms in the domestic market exceeded 8 trillion yuan, accounting for more than half of the national online retail sales; Hangzhou e-commerce enterprises sell their products to over 200 countries and regions worldwide. Hangzhou has become the city with the largest scale and widest coverage of e-commerce transactions worldwide. In 2022, the cross-border e-commerce import and export of Hangzhou Comprehensive Pilot Zone reached 120.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8%, accounting for 16.25% of international trade import and export. Hangzhou Comprehensive Pilot Zone continues to rank first in the annual assessment of national comprehensive pilot zones. High value-added global brands, high-tech cross-border e-commerce service industry, and efficient digital supply chain have become new features of Hangzhou's cross-border e-commerce development, "said Wang Yongfang.

In order to better promote the high-quality and global development of China's cross-border e-commerce, Long Yongtu, co chairman of the Global CEO Development Conference and chairman of China and Center for China and Globalization, gave three suggestions: first, continue to give play to the advantages of cross-border e-commerce to promote the high-quality development of the real economy, especially the manufacturing industry; The second is to leverage the unique advantage of strong cross-border e-commerce penetration to break the current containment and blockade of China by a few Western countries in international trade; Thirdly, relying on the advantages of China's large-scale cross-border e-commerce, we will contribute Chinese wisdom and experience to the rulemaking of global cross-border e-commerce.

We need to replicate the institutional innovation experience and cases of China's cross-border e-commerce worldwide. Currently, particularly important aspects include protecting consumer interests and intellectual property rights in cross-border e-commerce, making cross-border e-commerce flow smoother; coordinating cross-border e-commerce taxation and other important aspects, and some practices formed in the past can serve as the foundation for future international rules, "Long Yongtu said, In order to cope with future cross-border e-commerce rules, it is necessary to cultivate cross-border e-commerce with credibility and a legal concept in terms of brand, environmental protection, safety, and taxation. Only enterprises that understand international trade rules can become leaders in global rules after the birth of international trade rules.

Xu Ningning, Executive Chairman of the China ASEAN Business Council and Chairman of the RCEP Industrial Cooperation Committee, proposed suggestions based on the new opportunities brought by the effective implementation of the RCEP. He stated that RCEP has entered into force for all 15 member states, with a special chapter on "e-commerce" in the agreement. The contracting parties have jointly reached a series of consensus on opening up the e-commerce market. This favorable condition provides a priority and feasible direction for the high-quality and global development of cross-border e-commerce.

The next step is to more effectively seize RCEP, leverage the close economic and trade cooperation relationship between China and ASEAN, and develop cross-border e-commerce cooperation with neighboring ASEAN countries. Xu Ningning stated that firstly, China and ASEAN countries should actively implement the consensus documents on digital economy and cross-border e-commerce cooperation that have already been reached, and continuously expand new consensus to jointly solve the relevant obstacles restricting cross-border e-commerce cooperation. Secondly, local governments, industries, and enterprises must grasp the situation and take active action. It is recommended that all provinces, districts, and cities understand the concerns, plans, and policies of RCEP and other relevant countries regarding the development of cross-border e-commerce digital economy, and coordinate and cooperate with the needs, concerns, and development plans of cooperating countries to more effectively promote cooperation. The third is to establish an industry cooperation mechanism. For example, establishing unofficial, non-profit, and commercial cooperation mechanisms such as the China ASEAN Cross border E-commerce Industry Cooperation Committee and RCEP Cross border E-commerce Industry Cooperation Committee, with corresponding business association leaders and leading enterprises from each country as representatives, to jointly form an industry cooperation committee to promote industry cooperation and improve cooperation levels, Change the phenomenon of "blind men feeling like elephants", "scattered soldiers wandering", and "fighting alone" when e-commerce enterprises enter ASEAN. (Translated from: China Trade News)