The following introduces the industrial support for the back-end of cross-border e-commerce. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, more than 200,000 companies involved in cross-border and trade are basically concentrated in Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai, Zhejiang and other regions. Before 2012, cross-border e-commerce participants were mainly small and micro “grassroots” enterprises, individual merchants and online merchants.
Since then, mainstream participants in traditional trade such as foreign trade companies, factories and brand merchants have begun to enter this field and gradually moved towards large-scale operations. The locations of sellers have gradually radiated from the southeastern coast to inland areas.
In the 2015 cross-border e-commerce trend report released by Amazon, the top ten provinces by geographical distribution of sellers, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu coastal provinces accounted for 70% of the total, and the concentration of sellers was high The top 10 cities include Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Jinhua, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Dongguan, Fuzhou, Foshan, and Xiamen, all of which are manufacturing bases or international airports. It is not difficult to see that the Pearl River Delta at the forefront of foreign trade is still a hot spot for cross-border trade, just like the offline “Canton Fair” is moving online.
The huge economic foundation, highly concentrated production and manufacturing base, rich foreign trade talent reserve, advanced e-commerce and entrepreneurial awareness, and convenient logistics infrastructure have made Guangdong Province the number one export e-commerce seller. Rich categories and a complete industrial chain are its distinctive features.
“Look at Guangdong across the country, and look at Shenzhen across the border from Guangdong.” Shenzhen’s foreign trade exports have ranked first in the country for 22 consecutive years. Shenzhen’s cross-border e-commerce has developed rapidly, with more than 5,000 independent B2C companies and large sellers, accounting for half of the country’s cross-border e-commerce. In 2009, Shenzhen was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce to become the first “National E-commerce Demonstration City”. Shenzhen ranked first in the Chinese City E-commerce Development Index.
As of 2015, Shenzhen has 15,000 logistics companies and more than 300 supply chain companies, with more than 80% of the country’s supply chain company headquarters concentrated, and cross-border e-commerce innovations continue to make breakthroughs. The Shenzhen government has formulated a pilot support plan and supporting policies to promote cross-border trade e-commerce services. Visiting the Shenzhen China South City E-commerce Industrial Park and Qianhaiwan Bonded Port Area, you can see almost all of the country’s most influential cross-border celebrities. In addition to Shenzhen, the surrounding Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Dongguan, etc. are manufacturing bases and cross-border e-commerce gathering places.
The second is the Yangtze River Delta region, which has a developed light industry base, outstanding industrial cluster effects, and leading sales of clothing, shoes, hats, and household products. In 2015, Zhejiang’s cross-border e-commerce exports exceeded US$4 billion (only based on customs clearance statistics), accounting for about 16% of the country’s total, ranking second in the country after Guangdong Province. Other industrial zones, such as Fujian Province, which mainly focuses on sports shoes and clothing, has rich procurement and export advantages. At the same time, Xiamen Port provides transportation resources for exports, making Fujian Province a concentration of export sellers.
In the central and western regions, provinces and cities represented by Hunan, Hebei, Henan, and Sichuan are developing rapidly. The auto parts industry in relatively inland areas such as Anhui, Hubei, and Chongqing is very good. Alibaba, eBay and other platforms have vigorously developed the advantages of domestic industrial belts in recent years, forming Jiangsu Haimen Home Textiles, Zhejiang Wenzhou Shoes, Guangdong Shunde “Home Appliances Capital”, Liaoning Xingcheng “Swimwear Capital”, Fujian Shishi Textile and Clothing, Sichuan Chengdu Wuhou Women’s shoes, children’s clothing in Huzhou, Zhejiang, children’s carriages in Pingxiang, Hebei, wigs in Xuchang, Henan, etc. have established a cross-border e-commerce zone in the industrial belt.
eBay launched the “Enterprise Entry Channel” to strengthen industrial clusters in the same geographical location, which will help entrepreneurs, research institutions and investors form cooperation, thereby promoting innovation. Strong industrial clusters are the cradle of innovation, and many countries in the world have tried to build the next Silicon Valley. However, top-down, policy-driven approaches have mostly failed, and the formation of Silicon Valley is inseparable from entrepreneurial culture, academic and business ecosystems, and the necessary accumulation of talent. The transfer of export e-commerce operation centers to the central and western regions is a future trend, which will create new opportunities for the development of export e-commerce.