China approves more cross-border e-commerce pilot zones

Photo taken on Aug. 20, 2021 shows the cross-border e-commerce and digital economy exhibition area of the fifth China-Arab States Expo in Yinchuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

BEIJING, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council has approved setting up more cross-border e-commerce pilot zones in 27 cities and regions as the government seeks to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investments.

The new pilot zones, including those in Erdos in Inner Mongolia and the city of Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province, will replicate and advance the experience learned from the previous five batches of pilot zones, according to a statement released by the State Council.

While trying to promote the high-quality development of trade, the cabinet also stresses efforts to ensure national security, internet security, data security, and biological security to foster an amicable business environment for market entities.

China's cross-border e-commerce has been expanding much faster than overall foreign trade, and its share in overall foreign trade has gone up significantly.

Since 2015, China's State Council has established 105 cross-border e-commerce pilot zones in five batches. The new business model has become a vibrant force driving China's foreign trade growth.

Official data shows that China's total trade in goods moved up another notch in 2021, exceeding 6 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time, despite the pandemic continuing to weigh on global trade.