Cultivating new competitive advantages and accelerating cross-border e-commerce
With the development of digital technology, cross-border e-commerce has formed a new business model in terms of technology, mode, and supply chain, becoming one of the new driving forces for foreign trade growth. In the past 5 years, the scale of cross-border e-commerce trade in China has grown more than 10 times. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, in the first quarter of 2024, China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports amounted to 577.6 billion yuan, an increase of 9.6%, of which exports amounted to 448 billion yuan, an increase of 14%. In this context, more and more foreign trade enterprises are setting up warehousing facilities overseas to bring themselves closer to overseas customers.
With the arrival of summer, swimming has become a new sports choice for many people. In the Xingcheng Stawei Swimsuit Industrial Park in Liaoning, e-commerce logistics vehicles shuttle back and forth, and fashionable swimsuits will soon be shipped overseas. The continuous improvement of swimsuit quality and the rapid development of foreign trade economy have propelled Xingcheng swimsuits onto the international stage, and the "East Wind" of cross-border e-commerce undoubtedly accelerates Xingcheng swimsuits' pace of expanding into the international market.
Zhang Dongyuan, Chairman of Stawei Company, introduced: "In the early years, we provided OEM processing and trade services for foreign brands. Customers provided raw materials, and we processed them before exporting. Later, we had our own brand and began to engage in cross-border e-commerce B2C (business to individual customer) business. Foreign consumers placed orders online, and we shipped from China, gradually gaining recognition for our products in overseas markets. Now, with the emergence of the new format of cross-border e-commerce B2B (business to business direct export, enterprise export to overseas warehouses), we can extend our global layout through the model of 'online marketing+offline overseas warehouse establishment'
The B2B overseas warehouse mentioned by Zhang Dongyuan can not only expand customer sources through online marketing, but also help enterprises to grasp supply demand and product quality feedback in real time, so as to respond quickly to production and sales and reduce operating costs. More importantly, after foreign buyers place orders online, the overseas warehouse can directly release the package, allowing consumers to receive the package as quickly as possible, resulting in faster delivery of swimsuits and stronger market competitiveness. At present, Xingcheng swimwear enterprises have built more than 20 overseas warehouses abroad and have been put into use, which has become an important way for swimwear exports.
The 2024 government work report proposes to promote the healthy development of new formats such as cross-border e-commerce, optimize the layout of overseas warehouses, support the upgrading of processing trade, and expand new growth points such as intermediate goods trade and green trade. In late May of this year, the State Council executive meeting approved the "Opinions on Expanding Cross border E-commerce Exports and Promoting Overseas Warehouse Construction", proposing to cultivate cross-border e-commerce business entities and strengthen cross-border e-commerce talent training; Increase financial support and strengthen the construction of relevant infrastructure and logistics systems.
Cross border e-commerce is a driving force for China's foreign trade development and an important trend in international trade development. In recent years, cross-border e-commerce and new foreign trade infrastructure such as overseas warehouses have been coordinated and linked, with fast development speed, great growth potential, and strong driving effect. According to preliminary statistics from various regions, the number of cross-border e-commerce entities in China has exceeded 120000, with over 1000 cross-border e-commerce industrial parks and over 2500 overseas warehouses covering an area of over 30 million square meters. Among them, there are over 1800 overseas warehouses dedicated to serving cross-border e-commerce, covering an area of over 22 million square meters.
Industry experts say that overseas warehouses play an important role in improving logistics efficiency, enhancing e-commerce platform competitiveness, and ensuring stable and smooth cross-border e-commerce and its supply chain by actively utilizing functions such as product storage, packaging, sorting, and distribution. They can help enterprises better carry out cross-border trade, respond to changes in market demand, and create new advantages for international economic cooperation. This new advantage not only lies in promoting large enterprises and brands to accelerate their overseas expansion, but also in promoting small and medium-sized enterprises in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain to expand their international markets.
Cutting, polishing, painting, splicing, assembling lines... In the warehouse of Wuxi Haoshiyue E-commerce Co., Ltd., semi-finished wooden barrels and boards are neatly stacked. After processing is completed, these 70 sauna rooms will be shipped by sea to the company's self built overseas warehouse for "replenishment". After local consumers place orders, the products will be directly shipped from the overseas warehouse and can be delivered to customers in as fast as 3 days.
The person in charge of the company said, "Directly connecting with the consumer end is very important for operations, including first mile logistics, last mile delivery, overseas after-sales, etc. Setting up overseas warehouses not only improves the overall logistics controllability and timeliness, but also facilitates our precise market connection. Products such as sauna rooms, which are large in volume, high-value, and have inconvenient after-sales service, are particularly suitable
Overseas warehouses are not just about building warehouses overseas, but a warehousing model that integrates customs clearance, final delivery, after-sales service, product display, and other functions. They also optimize and integrate existing cross-border logistics transportation solutions. Changsha Jinfeng, Deputy Customs Officer of Wuxi Customs, said that for enterprises, using overseas warehouses can break down small parts into whole, send goods in large quantities to key market countries at once, achieve direct overseas sales and local distribution of products, shorten the time of cross-border transportation of products, reduce shipping costs, enhance customer experience and brand value.
As of now, China has established bilateral e-commerce cooperation mechanisms with 31 countries. In the future, the "friend circle" of cross-border e-commerce will also become increasingly large. Industry experts say that currently, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is advancing rapidly, and the global digital economy is flourishing, providing new opportunities for the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce. With the development of overseas warehouses, more and more high-quality and cost-effective Chinese products will be able to be conveniently delivered to overseas consumers, bringing convenience to their production and life. At the same time, as more cross-border e-commerce, leading enterprises, logistics companies, and small and medium-sized enterprises in the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain in China gain opportunities to participate in international market competition, it will further consolidate China's position in the global supply chain and cross-border trade network, and stimulate new momentum in foreign trade.
