A warehouse for cross-border e-commerce in Hangzhou in each China's Hangzhou Comprehensive Bonded Area. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By ZHONG Jianli

A new batch of integrated pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce will be established in China to further stabilize foreign trade and investment, according to an executive meeting of the State Council in mid September.

Amid complex international issues, China has introduced a series of policies to stabilize foreign trade, which have yielded good results. In the first eight months of this year, China's total import and export value was 27.3 trillion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 10.1 percent.

To further improve the efficiency of goods handling at ports and ensure the stability of the industrial and supply chains, the State Council executive meeting proposed to set up a new batch of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, along with providing greater support to building overseas warehouses.

Cross-border e-commerce is one of the fastest-growing industries in the past ten years in China. It is a new engine driving improvement of the quality and efficiency of foreign trade, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, a host of measures have been formulated to accelerate the development of cross-border e-commerce, including supporting qualified cross-border e-commerce enterprises to be recognized as high-tech enterprises.

Analysts believe that expanding the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones is conducive to making full use of online and offline channels, diversifying markets, and promoting the stability of foreign trade.

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, there are currently 132 cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones in China, and the number of overseas warehouses exceeds 2,000. China has established bilateral e-commerce cooperation mechanisms with 23 countries on five continents.

The meeting also proposed to improve services for Chinese companies to take part in overseas exhibitions and conduct business negotiations.

In addition, further measures should be taken to facilitate border entry and exit of business personnel and technicians employed by foreign companies, as well as their families.