On November 24, 2022, The State Council issued a reply to the approval of the establishment of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones in 33 cities and regions, including Langfang, among which 7 cities in Shandong, including Zaozhuang, Jining, Tai ‘an, Dezhou, Liaocheng, Binzhou and Heze, have been listed in China’s (city or region name) cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones.
On November 25, Professor Dong Yanling, director of Regional Economic Research Institute of Shandong University of Finance and Economics, was interviewed by reporters. He said: The cities listed in the comprehensive pilot zone of cross-border e-commerce in China are divided into 18 provinces and regions, all of which are inland cities in central and western China or non-coastal cities in coastal provinces. They have a clear direction, which is to promote the import and export of less developed regions through cross-border e-commerce, so as to better meet the needs of production and life.
Jinan, Qingdao, Yantai and other cities in the relatively developed areas of Shandong Province have enjoyed the trade convenience of cross-border e-commerce through the pilot free trade Zone. 7 cities in central and western China have been included in the comprehensive pilot zone of cross-border e-commerce, which is a timely policy “rain”.
In August 2019, the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone was inaugurated. The Shandong Pilot Free Trade Zone covers an area of 119.98 square kilometers, covering Jinan, Qingdao and Yantai. At present, Jinan Area of Shandong Pilot Free Trade Zone has started cross-border e-commerce business, exploring the “free trade link” between Japan and South Korea. For example, when a Japanese camera is sold in the free trade Zone, it does not pay customs duties, but once the transaction is successful, the camera sales amount includes customs duties and other taxes, which is automatically transferred to the relevant departments, making the transaction very convenient.
In the past, cross-border trade routes were “goods shipped abroad, displayed in foreign markets, ordered by buyers, and shipped at home”, but now a series of processes can be completed online. International e-commerce greatly reduces the cost of sales and facilitates the development of international retail industry. The “success” of the pilot free trade zones in facilitating cross-border trade needs to be replicated in less developed regions to boost their development.
Shandong is close to Japan and South Korea, and the transportation time is short, which is particularly suitable for cross-border trade of fresh agricultural products. In January this year, Shandong Provincial Government Information Office held a press conference, Jinan Customs Vice Minister Zhang Yibing introduced that in 2021 Shandong Province’s agricultural exports 123.84 billion yuan, accounting for 22.7% of the total value of the country’s agricultural exports, ranked the first among provinces and cities in the country, 23 consecutive years the champion. According to the analysis of Professor Dong Yanling, Shandong exports a lot of agricultural products, mainly not soybeans, corn such as easy long-term storage products, but vegetables, offshore aquaculture seafood and other “fresh goods”, which is Shandong’s advantage. The seven cities in central and western Shandong Province have been listed in the comprehensive pilot zone of cross-border e-commerce in China, which is conducive to further tapping the trade potential.
In fact, cross-border e-commerce is not new in Shandong, including the central and western parts of Shandong. According to the Notice of Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce on Identification of Key Cultivated Cross-border E-commerce Entities in Shandong in 2022 issued by the Provincial Department of Commerce, a total of 85 units have been identified as key cultivated cross-border e-commerce entities in Shandong Province. Among them, there are 15 cross-border e-commerce platforms, 20 cross-border e-commerce industrial parks and 50 public overseas warehouses cultivated by Shandong Province. Among the main list of cross-border e-commerce subjects cultivated in Shandong Province, there are two e-commerce enterprises in Heze. “Caoxian Small and Medium Enterprises Incubation Park” is identified as the industrial park cultivated in Shandong Province, and “Shandong Landport Cross-border E-commerce Co., LTD. (Los Angeles Warehouse)” is identified as the public overseas warehouse cultivated in Shandong Province.
Professor Dong Yanling believes that because of the establishment of a unified e-commerce platform, the “regional concept” of cross-border e-commerce is becoming more and more blurred. In the future, there may be no need for “pilot”. The current implementation of cross-border e-commerce should focus on the creation of soft environment and hard environment. The policy of this pilot zone “shall further improve the statistical system of cross-border e-commerce, implement the supporting policies of exempting value-added tax and consumption tax on cross-border e-commerce retail export goods in the comprehensive pilot zone according to regulations, and enterprises can choose to check and collect the enterprise income tax. We will automatically apply the cross-border e-commerce retail import pilot policies to the cities (regions) where the comprehensive pilot zones confirmed by the local customs to meet the regulatory requirements, and support enterprises to jointly build and share overseas warehouses.” Reflects this direction of development.
Cross-border e-commerce, in the final analysis, needs to be carried out by enterprises, which generally choose to cooperate with JD.com and Ali for cross-border transactions. In this case, the hardware and software of cross-border e-commerce needs to be built in the following aspects: First, the system platform should be built as a whole and should be concentrated instead of fighting alone; Second, to establish rules and standards to be observed by all; Third, do a good job of qualification audit; Fourth, the construction of public service facilities, smooth logistics routes. For example, when the goods from Shandong are exported to South Korea, after the order is placed, how to distribute the logistics, how to pass the customs, where to put the goods after the transit, how to quickly deliver them to consumers, every step of the whole process should be taken into account.
The essence of cross-border e-commerce is to realize the “door-to-door” service of online ordering in different countries, so that consumers can buy their favorite goods across borders and cross-cultural regions at low cost, which is especially suitable for small commodity trading. Seven cities in the central and western parts of Shandong have carried out cross-border e-commerce, which can take this opportunity to promote “Shandong good products” to foreign markets. Of course, foreign consumers can also buy Shandong goods more conveniently.
Post time: Apr-11-2023
