Cross-border E-commerce Boosts Chinese Brands Going Global (High-quality Development Highlights · Insights)

 

 

In Jinyi Comprehensive Bonded Zone, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, the staff of cross-border e-commerce vertical warehouse are inspecting and putting imported goods on shelves.
Photographed by Yang Meiqing (Image China)
Source: Ministry of Commerce, General Administration of Customs
Illustration by Wang Zheping

 

 

Core Reading

Directly contact overseas users through cross-border e-commerce platforms; use artificial intelligence business assistants to quickly generate commodity information; continuously improve the level of compliance and adapt to international market consumption needs... Since the beginning of this year, China's e-commerce enterprises have been actively using new technologies, adapting to new trends and cultivating new drivers. The development momentum of cross-border e-commerce has improved, providing new opportunities for brands to go global.

According to the data released by the General Administration of Customs recently, in the first three quarters of this year, China's total foreign trade import and export value exceeded RMB 32 trillion for the first time over the same period in history. Among them, cross-border e-commerce import and export reached RMB 1.88 trillion, up 11.5% year on year. Driven by scientific and technological innovation, cross-border e-commerce is a new form of foreign trade that actively uses new technologies, adapts to new trends, and cultivates new momentum. It has become an effective force for the development of China's foreign trade, providing global consumers with more diversified shopping choices.

Directly engaging with overseas customers to drive product innovation

Recently, a batch of self-owned brand furniture worth RMB 213,000 from Zhejiang Hangzhou Daya Information Technology Co., Ltd. was exported overseas through the cross-border e-commerce export overseas warehouse mode. "The furniture is designed and produced independently, and it sell well on cross-border e-commerce platforms," said Xu Dianxing, Manager of the Foreign Trade Department.

"Through the cross-border e-commerce platform, we can directly reach overseas customers, so as to better grasp the market rhythm and continuously promote product innovation." Xu Dianxing said that through cross-border e-commerce, the company has gradually developed from OEM to independent brand and successfully gained a firm foothold in overseas markets. At present, the enterprise has leased more than 10 overseas warehouses in major export markets such as Europe and America. In the first three quarters, it exported over RMB 500 million through cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouse mode, with a year-on-year increase of more than 30%.

In Hangzhou, a comprehensive pilot zone for cross-border e-commerce has been established. More and more foreign trade enterprises have actively integrated into the development trend of cross-border e-commerce, actively cultivated their own brands, and promoted domestic products to go global.

At a live-streaming base in Linping district, Hangzhou city, the live streamer is introducing an autumn trench coat to foreign consumers in the live-streaming studio with fluent English. Tao Hongjing, General Manager of Zhejiang Senbo Clothing Co., Ltd., said, "Cross-border e-commerce has provided new opportunities for clothing exports. Judging from the current sales situation, this year's clothing sales will increase by about 30% year on year."

The "Resolution" of the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposes to develop digital trade in an innovative manner and promote the development of integrated pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce. "The rapid development of cross-border e-commerce has gradually become a new highlight in the global economic and trade field and an effective force for China's foreign trade development, providing new opportunities for Chinese brands to go global." According to the relevant official of Hangzhou Customs, Zhejiang's cross-border e-commerce exports exceeded 250 billion yuan in the first three quarters, hitting a record high for the same period, with a year-on-year increase of more than 20%.

Leveraging artificial intelligence to reduce costs and increase efficiency

On October 15, the 136th Canton Fair kicked off with cross-border e-commerce as one of its highlights. At this Canton Fair, the newly optimized and upgraded cross-border e-commerce exhibition area has attracted more than 40 large-scale cross-border e-commerce platforms and high-quality supporting service providers in logistics, foreign exchange collection and settlement, etc. to display services around trade chains and links, promoting the integration and mutual promotion of new business forms and traditional business forms of foreign trade.

The 2024 Cross-Border E-Commerce Insight White Paper released at the Canton Fair shows that with the increasing demand of global consumers for online shopping, especially the rapid development of mobile e-commerce and the accelerated integration of global supply chains, the cross-border e-commerce industry is facing unprecedented opportunities and challenges. Chinese sellers have become important players in the global market with their strong manufacturing capabilities, innovative products and flexible supply chain management.

Helping more small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises quickly go online and expand globally, cross-border e-commerce platforms are turning to artificial intelligence for greater efficiency.

At the CIFTIS held in September this year, Alibaba displayed its new AI products for foreign trade. From the live demonstration, quick product distribution has been realized through AI business assistant. Just upload a product image or a keyword, and the whole set of information such as titles, prices and images can be automatically generated.

Lv Hongwei, co-founder of Hebei Hangfa Technology Co., Ltd., said that now the work of releasing new products is basically handed over to AI business assistants. "Our salesmen competed with the artificial intelligence. It took about 20 minutes for the salesman to connect a link, while it only took two minutes for the artificial intelligence," said Lv Hongwei.

At present, the AI business assistant of Alibaba already has functions such as intelligent product distribution, intelligent reception and intelligent market analysis. The possibility of overseas buyers searching for and purchasing products released after artificial intelligence optimization is greatly increased. Data show that the exposure of these products overseas has increased by 37%, and more than 30,000 small and medium-sized enterprises around the world have used Alibaba's AI business assistant.

Strengthening policy support and cultivating growth momentum

"Cross-border export has entered a new round of growth cycle characterized by branding, ecology and digitalization." Zheng Min, Chairman of Ebrun, said that the integration of industrial belts with cross-border e-commerce, the rise of platform semi-trusteeship model, the dividend of social e-commerce and the wide application of overseas warehouses have driven a large number of foreign trade factories, domestic trade factories, traditional import and export enterprises and brand enterprises in industrial belts to swarm into cross-border e-commerce industry. The combination of online and offline channels to go global has become the key for foreign trade enterprises to shape their core competitiveness.

According to Du Guochen, Director of E-commerce Institute of Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, with the increasing influence of CBEC on a global scale, Chinese e-commerce enterprises should improve their compliance level and awareness in terms of product standards, trade rules, competition policies, etc., so as to adapt to different requirements of different markets. It is necessary to further enhance the integration between cross-border e-commerce and industrial chains and supply chains, transform from the traditional order production mode to "small-batch rapid replenishment", multi-category and small batches, promote the development of traditional foreign trade enterprises and cross-border e-commerce at the same frequency, and promote the better development of more products and manufacturers suitable for cross-border e-commerce exports.

In order to promote the development of cross-border e-commerce and further cultivate new momentum for foreign trade development, China has successively introduced a series of policies and measures in recent years, including establishing comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce, improving and expanding the positive list of cross-border e-commerce retail imports, and innovating the customs clearance supervision of cross-border e-commerce.

"To meet the consumption demand of the international market, China's cross-border e-commerce trade has continued to grow steadily." According to the head of the Department of Foreign Trade of Ministry of Commerce, China's cross-border e-commerce entities in China played actively in the market, with service network covering more than 200 countries and regions However, at the same time, the development of cross-border e-commerce in China still faces problems and challenges such as entities' capacity to be improved, financing channels to be expanded urgently, and supervision services to be further optimized.

In June this year, 9 departments including the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the General Administration of Customs jointly issued the Opinions on Expanding Cross-border E-commerce Exports and Promoting the Construction of Overseas Warehouses, proposing 15 measures from 5 aspects such as actively cultivating cross-border e-commerce business entities and strengthening the construction of relevant infrastructure and logistics systems. The Ministry of Commerce said that it will work with relevant departments and units to strengthen overall coordination, enhance central-local collaboration, promote the implementation of various tasks in detail, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of new forms of foreign trade.

 

 

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Disclaimer：The above content is translated from Chinese version of People's Daily. The People's Daily version shall prevail.