General

According to import and export data, there are currently over 100000 cross-border e-commerce entities in China, over 200000 independent stations have been built, and there are about 690 cross-border e-commerce industrial parks in the comprehensive pilot zone. Cross border e-commerce trading partners are spread all over the world, and bilateral e-commerce cooperation memorandums have been signed with 29 countries. Recently, according to import and export data from the General Administration of Customs of China, the scale of cross-border e-commerce imports and exports in China exceeded 2 trillion yuan for the first time in 2022, reaching 2.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.1% compared to 2021. Import and export data shows that the scale of cross-border e-commerce imports and exports in China accounts for 4.9% of the total import and export value of national goods trade.

Import and export data shows that in the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce in China, as a key link in the cross-border service chain, cross-border payment has been given a lot of attention and has become an important direction for many payment institutions to transform. Among them, cross-border B2B payments are showing a rapid development trend. Improve the security, efficiency, and convenience of payments through innovative technologies and services; However, there are still some issues with cross-border B2B payments, including security, cost, complexity, and speed. From the perspective of payment, the three major problems faced by small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises are high transaction costs and long transaction times. This is because in various countries around the world, there are always difficulties in connecting with different payment platforms, but there is a lack of professional talent services; Financial compliance is relatively difficult. Due to different legal systems and rules, some are subject to behavioral regulation while others are subject to regulatory oversight. Small and medium-sized enterprises often face risks of financial fraud and money laundering; The risk of exchange rate fluctuations is relatively high. Traditional foreign trade mainly exchanges trade between the US dollar and the Chinese yuan, the euro and the Chinese yuan, or several mainstream currencies. But now Chinese enterprises are increasingly dealing with non mainstream currencies used by Southeast Asian and South American countries when going global. Due to geopolitical and other risks, the exchange rates of these currencies fluctuate greatly, resulting in financial losses for enterprises.

Faced with the rapidly expanding cross-border e-commerce market, many payment institutions have joined this blue ocean. Recently, another foreign cross-border payment service institution has accelerated its entry into the Chinese market.

On June 15th, the global B2B payment infrastructure platform Thunes Greater China headquarters - Yifuda Network Technology Services (China) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Thunes China") officially opened in the Lize Financial and Business District of Fengtai, Beijing.

Huang Meilun, Senior Vice President of Thunes Asia Pacific and Greater China, stated at the opening ceremony that the establishment of Thunes China will more efficiently assist Chinese enterprises and consumers in conducting faster and more inclusive transactions with major international markets. She also revealed, "Although we mainly serve the third-party payment market and do not form direct competition with licensed institutions, the company is currently applying for a domestic third-party payment license

'Thunes' in French means' pocket money', reflecting its main positioning in the small payment market. Thunes is headquartered in Singapore and has offices in New York, Dubai, and Nairobi. According to official information, Thunes currently has the world's largest electronic wallet network, covering 130 countries/regions, 4 billion bank accounts, 1.5 billion mobile payment accounts, 2.8 billion electronic wallet accounts, and 1.1 billion bank cards in the cross-border payment field. More than 75 countries/regions support local currency distribution and real-time payment. Including the online platform Uber, Grab and Deliverroo of Gig economy; Digital banking institutions such as Revolut, financial technology companies such as bKash, Mpesa, Gcash, Vodafone, and electronic wallets are currently clients of Thunes.

According to Peter De Caluwe, CEO of Thunes, The uniqueness of Thunes lies in our proprietary global network directly connected to local payment brands to provide a better and more interconnected cross-border payment experience. After the establishment of Thunes China, we will further assist in China's economic and trade exchanges with the world, lowering the threshold for local Chinese enterprises and consumers to make international payments, regardless of which country or region they want to connect to or which payment method they use, The potential of the Chinese market economy is enormous, cross-border transaction volume continues to rise, and the demand for efficient payment solutions continues to grow. These are several important driving factors for Thunes' decision to open a Greater China headquarters in China

Thunes attaches great importance to the localization strategy of exhibiting in China. Huang Meilun, who was previously the head of SWIFT China, was hired by Thunes as the Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific and Greater China in January 2022. From this personnel change, it can be seen that Thunes mainly focuses on emerging markets and mobile payment methods in its business. Its role is similar to that of infrastructure such as SWIFT, but it is mainly positioned as a supplement to traditional payment networks, addressing pain points such as low efficiency, high cost, and opacity in transactions. Compared to traditional banks, their cross-border payment methods can save up to 10 times the service fees, making them highly influential among customers in emerging economies.

Huang Meilun stated that, China is vigorously promoting the flourishing development of digital payments and e-commerce, occupying a leading position in the global market. Thunes will help China connect more smoothly with other international markets through innovative payment infrastructure. Since entering the Chinese market at the end of 2021, Thunes' local operation team is rapidly expanding, and the development of market business is also steadily growing. The establishment of Thunes' China headquarters in Beijing further deepens our understanding of China Market confidence and local commitment

According to import and export data, Thunes has reached cooperation with Alipay+and WeChat Pay of Alipay in cross-border business. On this basis, both parties can better achieve interconnection and payment globally through wallets within their ecological networks. For example, at the end of 2022, Thunes established a partnership with Tencent Financial Technology, becoming the first payment infrastructure partner to create a connection with the company. This collaboration enables members of the Thunes global network to send international payments to WeChat users, helping them quickly and easily enter the Chinese market.

Zhong Yiming, the head of Lianlian International B2B foreign trade payment business, said, "The current form of cross-border trade is relatively diversified, gradually transforming from bulk procurement to small and high-frequency procurement. Therefore, more innovative technologies and products are needed in the payment aspect to adapt to the scene." In February of this year, Tencent Financial Technology of China launched a cross-border payment platform for enterprises, "Zhihui Goose". This platform mainly provides global collection, payment, and remittance services for different industries such as import and export e-commerce and aviation tourism. Regarding the reasons for entering, Chen Qiru, Vice President of Tencent Financial Technology, stated that the cross-border e-commerce market has strong vitality and growth resilience, and has become a new important lever for stabilizing China's foreign trade. The widespread participation of small and micro entities has also provided a large number of job opportunities. The market strategy of "Zhihui Goose" entering the market, which features a maximum withdrawal fee of 3000 yuan and a minimum of 0.05%, has a certain appeal to sellers.

At the end of last year, Jiang Jingyu, Chairman of Remittance International, stated that in the cross-border e-commerce payment industry, China's payment industry has already developed at the forefront of the international community. However, in the international payment field, Chinese payment enterprises have not yet built a relatively complete cross-border financial payment network that can serve Chinese import and export merchants, so there are still many opportunities in this field. (Translated from: International Business Daily - Author: Lu Hong)