General

How to "reverse growth" under the epidemic of international trade "upstart"? A few days ago, at the six-day global cross-border e-commerce conference, how to deal with crises and challenges and make cross-border e-commerce strong "reverse growth" has become the consensus of the participants.

Zhang Xiangchen, Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization, said at the conference that in 2022, international trade and investment will continue to transform, and cross-border e-commerce will develop rapidly, which has become the main trend of economic development, further promoting the onlineization of the global offline economy.

There are various signs that, at present, new business forms and new models represented by cross-border e-commerce are accelerating their rise and becoming the "upstarts" in international trade. Especially in China, the cross-border e-commerce import and export volume did not drop but rose during the epidemic.

Guo Tingting, Assistant Minister of Commerce of China, said that the scale of China's cross-border e-commerce import and export has increased by 10 times in five years, and overseas warehouses have grown rapidly, with the number exceeding 2,400.

"Since the new crown pneumonia epidemic, traditional international trade has been greatly affected. Cross-border e-commerce has grown against the trend with unique advantages such as online transactions, and has become an important channel for China's foreign trade development." The first-level inspector of the Port Supervision Department of the General Administration of Customs of China Song Jingyan said that in 2021, China's cross-border e-commerce import and export scale will reach 1.98 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15%.

Under the superposition of a century of changes and the world's new crown pneumonia epidemic, global cross-border e-commerce is also facing many challenges such as geopolitical shocks, industrial chain transfer, and business model changes. So, how to make cross-border e-commerce more resilient and sustainable?

It is not difficult to find from the speeches of the participants that various countries and international organizations attach great importance to the development of cross-border e-commerce and the formulation of rules. The online economy represented by e-commerce has become one of the effective means for countries to deal with crises and challenges.

"When the supply chain is disrupted by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, e-commerce has further proved that it is as important as a lifeline." Yuchu Bangxiong, Secretary-General of the World Customs Organization, said that in recent years, the World Customs Organization has made efforts to keep cross-border e-commerce standards and tools up-to-date. Advance to meet the needs of all stakeholders and look forward to continuing to work closely with Chinese e-commerce players to jointly promote the widespread implementation of cross-border e-commerce standards.

"Cross-border e-commerce has been developing around the world for many years, but there is still no set of international rules to regulate the operation of the industry." Long Yongtu, chairman of the Global Cross-border E-commerce Conference, suggested that China's cross-border e-commerce should be bold in innovation and practice. Strive to be the maker and leader of international rules for cross-border e-commerce.

Talking about how to reduce the risks and challenges of cross-border e-commerce, Tang Min, dean of the Global (Zhengzhou) Cross-border E-commerce Research Institute, believes that cross-border e-commerce is entering a period of stable development, and the development direction should be changed to diversification, personalization and socialization. Seize new opportunities in niche market segments and focus on reform and innovation.

Zhang Dawei, vice chairman and secretary general of China International Economic Exchange Center, suggested that we should explore the long-term value of cross-border e-commerce, follow the development trend of globalization and free trade, and bring convenience to consumers in cross-border consumption and international trade. Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, suggested that cross-border e-commerce should avoid falling into the dilemma of homogenization and price wars.