China's cross-border e-commerce offers opportunities

China's cross-border e-commerce has entered a phase of high-quality development, presenting new collaborative opportunities for countries in the Global South, experts said at an event in Shanghai on Saturday.

Currently, cross-border e-commerce is advancing into a new phase characterized by diversified traffic, integrated trade, and diversified markets. As domestic sellers seek to explore new markets and discover new product categories, the Global South stands to benefit, the experts said.

"Countries in the Global South can leverage China's mature e-commerce operational experience to rapidly bring their high-quality, unique products to the global market," said Li Mingtao, chief e-commerce expert at the China International Electronic Commerce Center.

"Alternatively, they can collaborate with Chinese firms for secondary product development to meet domestic demand in China, utilizing cross-border e-commerce import channels to enter the China market," he said at a sub-forum focusing on digital economic connectivity in the Global South, part of the Shanghai Forum 2026 hosted by Fudan University, among others.

In addition to tapping into the import potential of partner countries, experts suggested building a major, interconnected e-commerce market under the Belt and Road Initiative to enhance digital infrastructure in partner countries and promote synergy with China's production and supply chains.

Qi Xin, director of the Belt and Road Initiative Economic and Trade Cooperation Research Institute at the Ministry of Commerce's Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, also said China should actively participate in global digital economy governance.

This involves promoting the establishment of a mutually beneficial, open, and transparent international rules-based system regarding the digital economy while fostering closer partnerships with key regions in the Global South to elevate e-commerce cooperation, she said.

Localized services

Experts noted that many Chinese cross-border e-commerce players have established localized services in Global South countries in recent years. For example, Kilimall, an e-commerce platform founded by a Chinese enterprise in Kenya, has established localized e-commerce operations in several countries in Africa, creating over 10,000 jobs in logistics, customer service, and local sales, and contributing to improving quality of life.

Zhou Lan, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, said Shanghai, in the forefront of China's reform and opening-up, has been committed to building a bridge for economic and trade connections between China and the Global South, as well as countries around the world, through digital empowerment.

She highlighted the international coffee harbor in Shanghai's Hongqiao area, which hosts around 100 online and offline enterprises. This harbor features coffee products from 60 countries, covering the entire life cycle from production to consumption, and forming a complete industry ecosystem from coffee seeds to coffee cups.

"The harbor includes coffee beans from 25 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Vietnam, and Peru. Increasingly, products from those regions are entering Shanghai through Silk Road e-commerce channels and flowing across China," Zhou said.

Eldor Tulyakov, executive director of the Development Strategy Center of Uzbekistan, said the commercial impact of the country's digital transformation over the past years has been evident. Partnerships with Alibaba, among others, have launched Uzbekistan's online retail ecosystem, reaching a vast consumer base.

"An initiative by Alibaba last year provided 100 local enterprises direct access to the global e-commerce market, integrating local small and medium-sized enterprises into global value chains," he said.

The country has recently seen the emergence of its first tech unicorn valued at over $2 billion, serving more than half of the national population and standing as a model project for digital transformation, he added.

Siwage Dharma Negara, a senior fellow with the Indonesia Studies Programme, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, said that inclusive and mutually beneficial development in the cross-border e-commerce field requires deeper and more balanced partnerships between China and its partner countries.

He said Indonesia needs to balance short-term and long-term development goals.

"Indonesia needs to coordinate short-term market management and long-term development goals. In the long run, Indonesia intends to strengthen economic resilience, while safeguarding consumer interests brought by digital trade," he said.

zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn