(I) Transaction scale of cross-border e-commerce import

According to the survey results, the transaction scale of cross-border e-commerce import in China reached 1.2 trillion yuan in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 33.3%.

After 2013, cross-border e-commerce platforms developed rapidly, and the number of cross-border online shopping users increased year by year. The scale of my country’s cross-border e-commerce import market grew rapidly. In 2015, due to the standardization of import tax policies and the reduction of tariffs on some imported goods, cross-border e-commerce imports showed explosive growth. In 2016, cross-border e-commerce imports continued to improve user experience, expand the variety of platform products, and improve after-sales service in the fierce competition. In the future, the transaction volume of China’s cross-border e-commerce import market will continue to grow rapidly. With the continuous support of national policies for cross-border e-commerce imports, cross-border e-commerce imports will become more and more popular. The transaction scale of the cross-border e-commerce import market from 2012 to 2016 is shown in Figure 3-1.

①Data source: “2016-2017 China Cross-border E-commerce Development Report” released by China E-commerce Research Center (WWW.100EC.CN).

(II) Establishment time of key cross-border e-commerce import enterprises

Currently, well-known cross-border e-commerce import enterprises include Ymatou, NetEase Kaola, Tmall International, etc., as shown in Figure 3-2. Among them, Ymatou was established in 2009, Miaya was established in 2011, and Xiaohongshu was established in 2013. With the legalization of cross-border e-commerce import and the change of tax policy in 2014, the period from 2014 to 2015 became the peak period for the establishment of cross-border e-commerce platforms. NetEase Kaola, Tmall International, Vipshop International, JD Global Shopping, Baby Grid and other platforms were successively established in these two years.

2014 and 2015 were the explosive period for the development of cross-border e-commerce import. The number of cross-border online shopping users increased rapidly in these two years. The change in consumption patterns drove the development of cross-border e-commerce import. The emergence of cross-border e-commerce platforms also led to the change in the consumption concept of traditional consumers. The development of cross-border e-commerce import entered its heyday.