Cross-Border Business to Business e-commerce refers to business transactions between enterprises in different countries or regions through the Internet. Some of these transactions are conducted between buyers and suppliers in different countries, while others are transactions between enterprises and government agencies or other commercial or non-commercial organizations in other countries. Therefore, the “enterprise” here can refer to all kinds of organizations, including companies, governments, international organizations, etc., whether they are private, state-owned, profitable or non-profit.
B2B e-commerce occupies a dominant position in cross-border e-commerce. It is estimated that about 80% of cross-border e-commerce transactions are completed in the B2B model. From an international perspective, the development of B2B e-commerce has entered the fifth generation. In the latest generation of B2B e-commerce, it includes collaboration with suppliers, buyers, government agencies, and other business partners, as well as optimization of internal and external supply chains and intelligent marketing systems. The development of social networks has also provided new opportunities for B2B e-commerce, making B2B more diverse in form and function.
Due to the great differences in industries, products, services, transaction volumes and scales, B2B e-commerce has various forms, but the basic elements that constitute cross-border B2B e-commerce are not much different, mainly including suppliers, buyers, retailers, manufacturers, intermediary platforms, service providers, various support organizations, etc. in various countries. The relationship between them and the coordination and cooperation of various components through the Internet realize various functions such as online sales, online procurement, online information transmission, and online fund transfer.