Guangdong has achieved full coverage of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test areas

On February 8, the State Council issued the Reply on Agreeing to Establish Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zones in 27 Cities and Regions Including Ordos, agreeing to establish cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones (hereinafter referred to as "cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones") in 27 cities and regions, including Shaoguan City, Shanwei City, Heyuan City, Yangjiang City, Qingyuan City, Chaozhou City, Jieyang City and Yunfu City. So far, Guangdong has achieved full coverage of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test areas listed at the 21 prefectures in the province, ranking first in the country.

"This marks that Guangdong's foreign trade development has entered a new stage of development." Li Zhiyuan, a professor at the School of Economics of Fudan University, believes that cross-border e-commerce is built on the basis of perfect and mature physical production and sales, and can gradually get rid of dependence on offline transactions, which is of great significance to improving the development level of Guangdong's foreign trade in the context of the epidemic and maintaining the stability of mainland foreign trade and sustained economic growth.

The so-called cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test area is a comprehensive reform pilot zone that realizes the liberalization, facilitation and standardized development of cross-border e-commerce through institutional innovation, management innovation and service innovation. It should take the lead in the technical standards, business processes, regulatory models and information construction of cross-border e-commerce transactions, payments, logistics, customs clearance, tax rebates, foreign exchange settlements and other links.

From 2016 to 2021, when Guangzhou and Shenzhen were approved for the comprehensive test zone, Guangdong's cross-border e-commerce import and export volume increased from 22.8 billion yuan to 331 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 70.8%, and achieved ranking first in the country for 8 consecutive years. The new formats and models represented by cross-border e-commerce have become a new driving force for the transformation and upgrading of Guangdong's foreign trade and high-quality development.

According to this approval, the construction of the newly established comprehensive test area should copy and promote the mature experience and practices of the first five batches of comprehensive test areas, give play to the positive role of cross-border e-commerce in helping the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and promoting the digital development of the industry, guide the healthy and sustainable innovation and development of cross-border e-commerce, and go all out to stabilize the basic plate of foreign trade and foreign investment, and promote the high-quality development of trade.

Li Zhiyuan suggested that Guangdong can provide more guidance and support in the digital development of the industry, assist traditional trading enterprises to complete the turn and leverage to cross-border e-commerce, improve the institutional mechanism for promoting the further development of cross-border e-commerce, and strive to achieve the re-upgrading of foreign trade and economic development.

This year, on the basis of achieving full coverage of the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test area in the province, Guangdong will also launch the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Global Trade Digital Pilot Zone, and strive to become a national cross-border e-commerce demonstration province. According to the plan, by 2025, Guangdong will also strive to build 20 "industrial clusters + cross-border e-commerce" pilots, cultivate 100 cross-border e-commerce sellers with an annual transaction volume of more than 100 million yuan, and cultivate 100 cross-border e-commerce independent brands with annual sales of more than 100 million yuan.

Guo Yingfeng, deputy director of the Finance and Finance Department of the Macroeconomic Research Department of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, believes that Guangdong can take advantage of the advantages of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to further promote the benign interaction between the domestic and foreign markets, and provide a demonstration in terms of complementary sales at home and abroad and realizing the mutual promotion of domestic and international dual cycles.

Source: Nanfang Daily (Reporter/Chang Daoli, Wang Biao)

Caption/ Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Mo Weinong

Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Lin Weilin