Cross-border e-commerce a new frontier for Chinese companies amid pandemic

CHONGQING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- In a factory in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, an array of off-road motorcycles made by Chongqing Fuego Power Co., Ltd. was waiting to be transported to Venezuela, one of the company's 50-plus export destinations.

Having been engaged in international trade for over seven years, the company expanded its overseas market mainly by attending international exhibitions.

However, due to interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on exhibitions worldwide, cross-border e-commerce has emerged as a new option for the manufacturer to further develop international business.

Last year, cross-border e-commerce generated an export value of 90,000 U.S. dollars for the company.

"Although our cross-border e-commerce business just started and didn't yield much profit now, we believe it has great potential and will grow in the future," said Zhang Yimin, chairman of Chongqing Fuego Power Co., Ltd.

Cross-border e-commerce, featuring online marketing, online transactions and contactless payment, has boomed in China over the past few years, particularly during the last two years when the pandemic impeded business travel and face-to-face contact.

Data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed that China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports grew by 0.5 percent year on year to 434.5 billion yuan (about 64.76 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of this year, with exports increasing by 2.6 percent to 310.4 billion yuan.

"In recent years, as a new form of foreign trade, cross-border e-commerce has shown strong development vitality," GAC spokesperson Li Kuiwen told a press conference in April.

Some 1,200 km east of Chongqing in landlocked Anhui Province, cross-border e-commerce has gained momentum thanks to factors including smoother logistics channels and more convenient customs clearance policies.

At a cross-border e-commerce industrial park in Hefei, capital of Anhui, workers from Shangyan Trading Company were busy loading clothes destined for North American market into trucks after quality inspection.

"Despite the pandemic headwinds, our cross-border e-commerce sales have continued to grow in recent years," said Jiang Yebing, general manager of Shangyan.

Besides novices of cross-border e-commerce, some enterprises with years of experience in the sector are also grasping new opportunities to open up more markets.

Having provided customized car parts to over 4 million consumers in over 170 countries and regions, Chongqing Guogui Racing Technology Co., Ltd. has joined cross-border e-commerce since its founding in 2006.

"In 2021, our trade volume on cross-border e-commerce platforms exceeded 800 million yuan, which accounted for nearly 80 percent of our total trade volume and grew 30 percent year on year," said Yao Yi, deputy manager of Guogui.

To meet the demand of the growing cross-border e-commerce business, 40 percent of the company crew are taking part in work related to cross-border e-commerce, Yao added.

Meanwhile, a favorable policy environment for cross-border e-commerce has also led to a continuous increase in the number of cross-border e-commerce companies in the country.

So far, China has seen the establishment of more than 30,000 enterprises related to cross-border e-commerce, with the volume soaring every year.

"China has actively developed cross-border e-commerce and other new forms of foreign trade to promote sustained growth of foreign trade," said Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics.

Despite the complex and uncertain international environment, China's strong resilience and great potential in foreign trade will remain unaffected and the country's foreign trade is expected to maintain stable development, Fu noted.