Cross-border e-commerce faced with opportunities, injects momentum to China's foreign trade

Containers are transported by trucks at the Pacific international container terminal of Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin Municipality, April 11, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

Driven by policy support, digital technology and regional cooperation, China's cross-border e-commerce is looking at fresh development opportunities, injecting new momentum to the country's foreign trade, according to participants at a forum held in Beijing on Saturday.

The event, known as the 2023 China Cross Border E-commerce Ecological Innovation Summit, was held by the Cross Border E-commerce Branch of the China Association of Small and Medium Commercial Enterprises, reported Economic Information Daily.

Data shows that cross-border e-commerce is witnessing a large global market that covers 60 percent of world population, according to Li Mingtao, an analyst with China International Electronic Commerce Center.

As far as the Chinese market, Li noted that in 2022, the volume of China's cross-border e-commerce has reached 2.11 trillion yuan (about 306.09 billion U.S. dollars), up 9.8 percent from the year before, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

Participants at the event are bullish over the outlook of domestic cross-border e-commerce market, with China making active efforts in fostering new forms and models of digital trade, supporting trade of digital products, services and technologies.

In addition, international economic and trade cooperation mechanisms such as Silk Road e-commerce and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are also believed to boost sustainable development of the industry.

For instance, the RCEP significantly improves the business environment in the region, as well as facilitates the free flow of economic factors, the establishment of cross-border e-commerce supply chains and the construction of overseas warehouses.

Besides, the rapid development of livestreaming has offered new potentials to cross-border e-commerce. Business insiders pointed out that the livestreaming industry is going through the transformation from traffic-driven to product-driven, which yields more convenience for enterprises to engage in cross-border e-commerce business and opens up a larger market.