General

As a new engine of international trade, cross-border e-commerce has continued to inject new momentum into the building of a trade power in recent years. In 2022, China's cross-border e-commerce will continue to maintain a steady and rapid growth momentum and deliver a satisfactory answer.

According to the experts interviewed, despite the numerous tests at home and abroad, China's cross-border e-commerce has still played an important role in promoting the stability and quality of foreign trade, transformation and upgrading. Looking ahead, cross-border e-commerce will create new development opportunities for more Chinese international trade enterprises.

Policies help ensure stable development

Wang Jian, a professor of the School of International Economics and Business of the University of International Business and Economics and the director of the Department of International Business and Economic Cooperation, said in an interview with the International Business Daily that this year is full of tests for China's cross-border e-commerce enterprises. "The level of global trade recovery is not as expected. The adjustment of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon has seriously affected Chinese businesses. With the European energy crisis and the sluggish global supply chain, China's cross-border e-commerce is facing huge challenges."

However, in the above context, China's cross-border e-commerce has delivered a satisfactory answer. In 2022, China's cross-border e-commerce will continue to maintain a steady and rapid growth momentum. In the first half of the year, the import and export volume of cross-border e-commerce will increase by 28.6% year-on-year, showing full resilience and momentum.

In addition, according to customs statistics, the import and export scale of China's cross-border e-commerce has increased nearly 10 times in the past five years. The proportion of cross-border e-commerce in international trade will increase from less than 1% in 2015 to 4.9% in 2021. In 2021, the import and export scale of China's cross-border e-commerce will reach 1.92 trillion yuan, up 18.6% year on year.

The steady development of cross-border e-commerce can not be separated from a series of policy support - Last year, the "Fourteenth Five Year" Business Development Plan and the "Fourteenth Five Year" Digital Economy Development Plan were issued successively, all of which made plans for the healthy and sustainable innovative development of cross-border e-commerce; In January this year, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Fourteenth Five Year Plan" for the Construction of Modern Circulation System, which pointed out that we should further promote the construction of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot areas, study and adjust the list of cross-border e-commerce retail imports, support the development of bonded imports and business to business (B2B) exports, and encourage cross-border e-commerce platforms to improve their functions.

It is worth mentioning that the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot area is also expanding. In February this year, the State Council approved the establishment of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones in 27 cities and regions; In November, the State Council approved the establishment of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones in 33 cities and regions. This is the first time since the establishment of China (Hangzhou) Cross border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zone in 2015, the State Council has approved the establishment of two batches of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones within one year. So far, there are 165 cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot areas in China, covering 31 provinces, autonomous regions and cities.

Wang Jian believes that the above policies and measures to support the development of cross-border e-commerce have played a very important role. They have made remarkable achievements in helping small and medium-sized enterprises participate in global cross-border e-commerce, enabling China's foreign trade to continue to develop steadily, or urging local governments to continuously improve their service levels and create a good business environment for enterprises.

Accelerate transformation and grasp new opportunities

The report of the Twentieth National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern with domestic circulation as the main body and domestic and international double circulation promoting each other. The industry generally believes that the development of cross-border e-commerce can further enhance the global appeal of the domestic market, effectively release the productivity of the strong domestic supply chain, and continuously enhance China's ability to collaborate with domestic and international markets and resources.

Benefiting from the "lightweight" sea going opportunities created by cross-border e-commerce, many SMEs have captured new opportunities to explore overseas markets. During the just concluded Qatar World Cup, more than 10 million pieces of peripheral goods produced in Yiwu, China, were sold all over the world through cross-border export e-commerce platforms, and participated in the World Cup on behalf of "Made in China". According to the estimation of Yiwu Sports Goods Association, "Yiwu made" accounts for about 70% of the market share of the commodities around the Qatar World Cup.

"AliExpress platform makes it easy for us to establish contact with buyers around the world, helping us better grasp the huge market demand of this World Cup," said a person in charge of a sports goods company from Yiwu.

The important role of cross-border e-commerce goes beyond that. Wang Jian said that cross-border e-commerce plays an important role in the process of transformation and upgrading of China's international trade - promoting the combination of traditional foreign trade with cutting-edge technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, and artificial intelligence, driving the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry, helping Chinese international trade enterprises build brand advantages, improve product added value, further reduce optimization costs, and stimulate innovation vitality.

With a view to the future, how can cross-border e-commerce achieve high-quality development? Wang Jian said that local governments should deepen their understanding and understanding of cross-border e-commerce, deeply study the operation mode of cross-border e-commerce, actively learn from the development mode of developed regions, and make every effort to optimize the local business environment to create better conditions for cross-border e-commerce to achieve high-quality development.

Ouyang Rihui, Vice President of China Internet Economics Research Institute of CUFE, said that cross-border e-commerce × The characteristic of 24-hour uninterrupted operation has greatly improved the efficiency of the transaction link, and the increasingly personalized and diversified consumer demand has also put forward higher requirements for the supply side. Therefore, cross-border e-commerce enterprises should accurately match customers' localization and personalized needs, and use digital technology to reconstruct the ecosystem, so as to meet customers' needs for on-demand customization, quick return of small orders, personalized customization and so on.