Rail drives cross-border e-commerce

Fifteen days after departing Chongqing in southwestern China on Sept 29, 139 parcels arrived in a processing center in Frankfurt for delivery to people across Germany. The packages included storage boxes, stuffed toys and Chongqing local specialties.

Though the parcels were few in number, their delivery marked the successful test of mail delivery via the China-Europe railway system. Cross-border e-commerce platforms such as DHGate have been notified to prepare for another test, during which their products will be sold and shipped to Russia and Germany via the railway.

The past few years have seen burgeoning sales in cross-border online shopping, but traditional sea and air postal routes have hampered its expansion.