Cross-border e-commerce becomes new venue for entrepreneurs to secure orders

Foreign businessmen choose sports equipment at a shop in the Yiwu International Trade Market located in Yiwu, east China’s Zhejiang Province. (People’s Daily Online/Fang Pengyimeng)

The trade volume of China's cross-border e-commerce totaled 1.22 trillion yuan (about $170.95 billion) in the first half of 2024, up 10.5 percent year on year, outpacing the overall national foreign trade growth by 4.4 percentage points.

The trade volume of China's cross-border e-commerce grew from 1.06 trillion yuan in 2018 to 2.38 trillion yuan in 2023, increasing by 1.2 times over the course of five years.

Seizing opportunities brought by the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Even before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games began, Chinese merchants on Alibaba's international platform had already earned 7 billion yuan.

During the Olympics, Chinese-made products, such as the white hair clip worn by Chinese shooter Huang Yuting when she won the first gold medal, became bestsellers, with one merchant selling over 400,000 in a day.

The momentum generated by major sporting events continues to drive China's cross-border e-commerce to new heights. Alibaba's international platform and the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu city, east China's Zhejiang Province, have seen a significant increase in foreign trade.

Since January, sports-related products such as tennis apparel, outdoor sportswear, sports cameras, and golf bags have been in high demand on Alibaba's international platform.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games provided a great opportunity for the Yiwu International Trade Market, as 80 percent of the Olympic mascots and 1 million licensed Olympic silicone wristbands were sourced there.

According to statistics released by Yiwu, in the first half of this year, the city's total import and export value exceeded 300 billion yuan for the first time, with sports goods and equipment exports reaching 5.02 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.3 percent.

Number of registered businesses in the cross-border e-commerce sector is surging

The 2024 China (Guangzhou) Cross-Border E-Commerce Fair, held from Aug. 16 to 18 in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, brought together over 40 domestic and international cross-border e-commerce platforms and more than 1,000 companies from over 20 Chinese provinces and cities. The event covered various sectors, including warehousing, logistics, payment, legal services, system providers, and factories.

"In recent years, entrepreneurs have set their sights on cross-border e-commerce, and it remains a lucrative opportunity in 2024," said an executive from Shopee, a cross-border e-commerce platform.

Entrepreneurs can begin their journey on user-friendly platforms and strategically target the Southeast Asian market. This approach simplifies product selection and enhances the chances of successful transactions, according to the same person.

According to data from database query platforms Tianyancha and Qichacha, there are currently 21,000 cross-border e-commerce-related companies in China, with registrations steadily increasing over the past decade. So far this year, 4,715 cross-border e-commerce-related companies have been registered, accounting for 81 percent of last year's total registrations.

Cross-border e-commerce is becoming a vital battlefield for entrepreneurs, both new and experienced, to capture orders, expand markets, and tap into growth potential.