China's Cross-border E-commerce and Overseas Warehouses See Rapid Growth

TapTechNews May 30th news, the Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference today. The spokesperson, He Yadong, indicated that efforts would be made to promote the prompt issuance of the 'Opinions on Expanding Cross-border E-commerce Exports and Promoting the Construction of Overseas Warehouses', and work with relevant departments and local regions to ensure implementation. The focus will be on the following four aspects:

First, empowering industrial development. Relying on the 165 cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones in China, combined with the industrial endowments and location advantages of each region, to drive more enterprises in the industrial belts to utilize cross-border e-commerce to participate in international trade.

Second, increasing the cultivation of main entities. Guide the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones to actively cultivate chain main enterprises and lead the digital transformation of upstream and downstream small and medium-sized enterprises. Hold special training on new forms of foreign trade and strengthen capacity building.

Third, enhancing exchanges and learning. Hold on-site meetings of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones to strengthen the communication of typical cases and experiences. Enhance the level of industry self-discipline and guide orderly competition.

Fourth, creating a favorable environment. Actively participate in international multilateral and bilateral cooperation, and add cross-border e-commerce topics under work mechanisms such as free trade agreement negotiations, joint committee meetings, and mixed committee meetings. Support cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, industries, and enterprises to actively carry out international exchanges and cooperation.

In recent years, cross-border e-commerce has协同联动(coordinated and interacted) with new foreign trade infrastructure such as overseas warehouses, showing rapid development speed, great growth potential, and strong driving force. Over the past five years, the trade volume of cross-border e-commerce in China has increased by more than ten times. In the first quarter of 2024, the import and export of cross-border e-commerce was 577.6 billion yuan, increasing by 9.6%, among which exports were 448 billion yuan, increasing by 14%. According to the preliminary statistics of various regions, there are more than 120,000 cross-border e-commerce entities nationwide, and more than 1000 cross-border e-commerce industrial parks. More than 2500 overseas warehouses have been built with an area of more than 30 million square feet (approx. 2.8 million square meters), among which more than 1800 overseas warehouses that focus on serving cross-border e-commerce have an area of more than 22 million square feet (approx. 2 million square meters).

TapTechNews noted that a Reuters journalist asked at the press conference, 'If the European Commission rules that China's new energy vehicle industry has received unfair subsidies, will China negotiate with EU member states to lift the EU's authorization to levy tariffs on Chinese export products?' In response, He Yadong said, 'China will closely follow the progress of the investigation and will resolutely take measures to defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.'