Cross-border e-commerce imports are developing from personal purchasing to B2C mode. Data shows that in 2015, the B2C mode accounted for 47.7%, almost the same as the C2C mode. The mode accounted for 58.6%, surpassing the C2C mode for the first time and becoming the most important cross-border e-commerce import mode. In 2017, the B2C mode accounted for 64.4% of the cross-border e-commerce import modes. B2C in 2016 is shown in Figure 3-5.
The reasons can be analyzed from three perspectives.
(1) National policy level
Since 2012, the country has opened up the first batch of pilot cities for cross-border e-commerce imports: in 2013, policies were introduced to support cross-border e-commerce customs clearance; in 2014, cross-border e-commerce imports began to be legalized with clear tax policies. Cross-border e-commerce imports are gradually legalized and their operations are standardized. With the country’s standardized management of cross-border e-commerce imports, some C2C platforms have gradually turned to B2C platforms in order to meet policy requirements.
(2) Investment capital level
Cross-border import e-commerce platforms have great investment potential and are favored by investment capital. According to statistics, in 2016, the average amount of single financing obtained by cross-border import e-commerce platforms was about 33 million US dollars. Among the cross-border import e-commerce platforms that disclosed financing, 6 platforms obtained financing amounts of more than 100 million yuan. Some large-scale B2C platforms have gradually merged with some small C2C platforms.
(3) Product quality level
Due to the uneven product quality of C2C platforms, in order to meet consumers’ needs for product quality, B2C platforms began to flourish and become mainstream.