Chongqing Unleashes New Opportunities with Cross-Border E-Commerce "Fast Track"

Cross-Border E-Commerce Exhibition Hall S1 (Photo: Chen Xingyu)

Cross-border e-commerce has become a new engine for China's foreign trade, a new channel for industrial transformation and upgrading, and a new driver of high-quality development. Running May 18-21, the 2023 China (Chongqing) Cross-Border E-Commerce Trade Fair, co-hosted by the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce and the Ministry of Commerce's Trade Development Bureau, is being held alongside the WCIFIT at the Chongqing International Expo Center.

According to the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, the municipality's cross-border e-commerce has taken off since it became one of China's pilot zones. In 2022, the municipality's cross-border e-commerce turnover reached RMB40.71 billion, a 27.9% jump from the previous year. Staging the China (Chongqing) Cross-Border E-Commerce Trade Fair is a targeted measure for driving digital progress in foreign trade, a living example of expanding Chongqing's inland gateway, and a powerful engine for upgrading the quantity and quality of the municipality's cross-border e-commerce.

With the theme "Trade Digitalization Reshaping New Business Opportunities for Cross-border Trade", this edition of the trade fair is held in the format of "professional exhibition + high-level forum + procurement matchmaking events", with three dedicated zones for global and provincial pavilions, integrated cross-border e-commerce services, and industrial clusters across 40,000 square meters. With trade as the spearhead, industry as the foundation, and services as the guarantee, it promotes the digital transformation and upgrading of the entire industrial chain and value chain of foreign trade, and strives to build the trade fair into the largest professional cross-border e-commerce exhibition in Western China that covers the most industrial belts and the most complete industrial chain.

According to the organizers, the trade fair has secured participation from 22 countries and regions such as the United Kingdom, Australia and South Korea, 22 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and cities including Guangdong, Zhejiang and Sichuan, 28 leading cross-border e-commerce platforms including Amazon, eBay, Made-in-China.com and Alibaba, as well as the Western China's competitive industrial belts in auto and motorcycle parts, hardware, textiles, food and electronics. In total, more than 500 enterprises and over 2,200 professional visitors and buyers are attending.

Summit venue (Photo: Chen Xingyu)

During the event, the fair will stage one flagship forum plus N themed side events. The "1" refers to the 2nd China (Chongqing) Cross-Border E-Commerce Development Summit Forum, which took place on the opening day to foster greater exchanges and cooperation, share investment opportunities, and advance the cross-border e-commerce sector. The "N" stands for over twenty supporting programs, such as the Cross-Border Logistics and Overseas Warehousing Conference and the Wushan Ecological New Tea Launch.  

In addition to offline networking and matchmaking activities, the trade fair has arranged a series of online events, including bilingual livestreams, and simultaneously set up live channels called "Consultation Room" and "Online Expo Tour", providing enterprises with online "diagnosis" services and consultation on the latest cross-border e-commerce policies, international market trend analyses, and related information.

Moreover, the trade fair has organized several matchmaking sessions for relevant service providers and enterprises from advantageous industrial belts, and invited procurement delegations from Thailand, Kazakhstan, Iran, Malaysia, the Philippines and other countries to conduct on-site procurement matchmaking, so as to precisely align buyer needs with seller resources and promote win-win cooperation.

This year Chongqing has targeted district specialties suited for cross-border e-commerce sales such as Jiulongpo auto and motorcycle parts, Jiangjin machinery tools, Wanzhou lighting fixtures, Rongchang and Fengjie eyewear, and Dazu hardware. The municipality launched the "Chongqing Trade with World, Cross-border E-commerce Empowerment" program to carry these industrial belts overseas, leveraging the foreign trade strengths to shift traditional traders and manufacturers from offline to online, raise digital capabilities, and expand globally while building brands.

Source: www.comnews.cn