Since the term "cross-border e-commerce" first appeared in the government work report in 2014, the scale of cross-border e-commerce in mainland China has achieved rapid growth, with an increase of nearly 10 times in 5 years. In the 2022 government work report, it is proposed to accelerate the development of new formats and models of foreign trade, give full play to the role of cross-border e-commerce, and support the construction of a number of overseas warehouses. So far, cross-border e-commerce has been written into the government work report for 9 consecutive years.
At the beginning of 2022, the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone was expanded for the sixth time in seven years, and the list of retail imported goods was also expanded again in March. The Beijing News shell financial reporter used data to interpret the "expansion era" of cross-border e-commerce, what impact will it have on imports and exports and regional economies? And what benefits will it bring to consumers?
It has been written into the government work report for 9 consecutive years
Cross-border e-commerce has become a new driving force for foreign trade
The 2022 government work report proposes to accelerate the development of new formats and models of foreign trade and give full play to the role of cross-border e-commerce. So far, cross-border e-commerce has been written into the government work report for 9 consecutive years. The government work report has mentioned "cross-border e-commerce" for consecutive years, continuing to promote the expansion of cross-border e-commerce and promoting the development of foreign trade.
The Beijing News Shell Finance and Economics combed through the government work reports over the years and found that after 9 years of development and layout, the cross-border e-commerce pilot zone has basically covered the whole country and has become a new driving force for foreign trade.
In recent years, China's cross-border e-commerce has grown rapidly and its market size has continued to expand, giving full play to its advantages in integrating global supply chains. It is worth noting that even in 2020, when the global economy is hit by the epidemic, cross-border e-commerce imports and exports still achieve growth. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, 2.45 billion votes were checked and released through the customs cross-border e-commerce management platform in 2020, an increase of 63.3% year-on-year.
The cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test area has been expanded to 132 in 7 years
Covering more than 40% of the country's 31 provinces in Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang
As a new type of international trade mode, cross-border e-commerce has formed China's three major trade modes together with general trade and processing trade, and has become a new driving force for economic growth.
In 2021, the import and export volume of cross-border e-commerce in the mainland will reach 1.98 trillion yuan, an increase of 15%, of which the driving role of the comprehensive pilot zone is inseparable. In 2022, the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone ushered in the sixth "expansion" in 7 years.
On February 8, the State Council approved a new batch of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, and 27 cities including Ordos, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Jinhua, Ma'anshan and Kashgar were listed. After this expansion, the number of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones in China has reached 132, covering 31 provinces.
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng previously said that from the layout point of view, the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone has basically covered the whole country, achieving full coverage of major foreign trade provinces such as Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other major foreign trade provinces and Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and other municipalities directly under the central government, with a rich development gradient, both along the border coastal cities and inland hub cities; both cities with obvious foreign trade advantages and cities with outstanding industrial characteristics, and the comprehensive test area will play a more active role in promoting the high-level opening up of the region.
Since 2017, the scale of cross-border e-commerce in mainland China has increased by nearly 10 times in five years.
The Beijing News Shell financial reporter combed the data and found that the establishment of the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone has promoted a significant increase in import and export volume: in 2014, China's cross-border online retail transaction volume was 449.2 billion yuan, and there were about 5,000 platforms and enterprises engaged in cross-border e-commerce; by 2020, the import and export volume of cross-border e-commerce reached 1.98 trillion yuan, and the related enterprises engaged in cross-border e-commerce reached more than 30,000, and the registration volume is still growing year by year.
Cross-border e-commerce retail import list "expanded" three times in 6 years
Which products are being consumed?
Since its release in 2016, the list of cross-border e-commerce retail imports has undergone many adjustments, from 1240 items to 1476 items in the past 6 years, and after 3 adjustments, the mainland's current list of cross-border e-commerce retail import goods has been continuously optimized.
It is worth noting that the list has made technical adjustments to the relevant tariff lines, adding 115 new tax numbers and deleting 80 abolished tax numbers, involving imported goods such as frozen scallops, bird's nest, olive oil, and down jackets. In addition, in order to implement relevant international conventions and strengthen import supervision and management, the list has also adjusted 206 commodity remarks, involving butter, cheese and so on.
The change in the list of cross-border e-commerce retail imports also shows the current trend of consumption upgrading, the Winter Olympics will drive the ice and snow economy boom, and ski equipment and other commodities will be added in this adjustment; at the same time, the improvement of living standards will bring about the upgrading of the quality of life, household dishwashing machines, golf equipment, etc. are also in this new project.
Online shopping for overseas goods has also been integrated into public life. From 2016 to 2020, the scale of mainland sea amoy users has increased year by year. The upgrading of resident consumption has become the biggest driving force for the rapid growth of Cross-border E-commerce in China.
"In addition to the promotion of policy measures, some new changes in China's economy have provided strong support for the development of cross-border e-commerce." Lin Meng, director of the Modern Supply Chain Research Institute of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said in a previous interview with the People's Daily that consumption upgrading is the biggest driving force for the rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce in China, especially the continuous upgrading of consumption in third- and fourth-tier cities, which provides a lasting impetus for the development of cross-border e-commerce.
In the context of the "Belt and Road", cross-border e-commerce has gradually become the new "Online Silk Road". Compared with domestic e-commerce, the cross-border e-commerce supply chain chain is longer, and it is also necessary to solve problems such as overseas logistics and transportation, currency payment, and customs declaration. On January 1, 2022, the official implementation of RCEP will greatly enhance intra-regional trade activities, and enterprises that provide platform tools such as port shipping and cross-border e-commerce will directly benefit.