Amid the COVID-19 epidemic, China has gained momentum in cross-border e-commerce, whose market size in the country topped 14.6 trillion yuan ($2.25 trillion) in 2021, putting the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of the market at nearly 18 per cent in the past five years, according to a report by London-based global consultancy firm EY.

Due to supportive policies, China's cross-border e-commerce market has remained on a fast track since 2015 and its penetration has also risen, with the rate hitting 40 per cent last year, data presented in the report showed.

China began setting up cross-border e-commerce pilot zones as early as 2015 in Hangzhou in the Zhejiang province to try the new business form and digitalise its trade channels.

In February, the country revealed its sixth batch of 27 cross-border e-commerce pilot zones, bringing the total to 132.

China's cross-border e-commerce has achieved coordinated development across different regions, said the commerce ministry.

The pilot zones have covered almost all provincial-level regions in China from coastal manufacturing hub of Guangdong to inland port city of Alashankou in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, official Chinese media reported.

China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports climbed 15 per cent year on year to 1.98 trillion yuan in 2021. In the first quarter this year, cross-border e-commerce trade scale hit 434.5 billion yuan, said the ministry.

Cross-border e-commerce has also offset the pandemic, as more consumers switched to online shopping to avoid face-to-face contact, according to the EY report.

Chinese consumer activities weakened in March as resurgences of COVID-19 impeded catering and traveling activities. However, online sales performed well, with the figure rising 6.6 per cent year on year to reach about 3.01 trillion yuan in the January-March period.

A 2020-21 research report on China's cross-border e-commerce imports by iiMedia Research showed that 67.1 per cent of interviewees said they had purchased products on cross-border e-commerce platforms.

With China's further opening-up, gradual improvement in the cross-border e-commerce system and people's increasing income, residents' demand for imported goods will continue to rise and bring about further increases to consumption, added the Chinese research firm.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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