By Wu Huimin
China’s consumption scenarios of foreign trade have been constantly widened thanks to the development of digital technologies, such as AI-assisted real-time translation, remote equipment trouble-shooting, and traceable technology in production, packaging, shipping, and sales processes.
Experts believe that digital trade, as a new form of the trade sector, expands new space for upgrading foreign exchange.
A batch of digital services is displayed in an exhibition area of an intelligent international freight system of Cainiao, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
Visitors can get a clear path of an express parcel from China to its overseas destination by just typing a few parameters into the system. All necessary logistics nodes are marked along the track on the screen.
An employee of Cainiao told People’s Daily that with this system, every logistics link has become traceable, from domestic warehouses to ports and overseas warehouses and in end-range delivery.
The 133rd China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, was recently held in South China’s Guangdong province. Apart from arranging offline booths, many exhibitors also set up live broadcasts in the venue, interacting with their clients via live streaming.
“We have opened online business on international trade sites, including Alibaba, and promoted our operations on overseas social media platforms. Thanks to these efforts, our business is constantly expanding,” said Wang Li, founder of exhibitor Shenzhen Maiqijia Home Co., Ltd., an early player in the e-commerce sector.
Over recent years, digital technologies have opened up new arenas, constantly contributing to the high-quality development of China’s foreign trade.
Sun Yuning, vice minister of the General Administration of Customs of China, noted that cross-border e-commerce had become a new engine of the country’s foreign trade development and an essential part of China’s high-quality development, with its volume doubling from 1 trillion yuan ($142.12 billion) in 2018 to 2.11 trillion yuan in 2022.
Sun added that while expanding its volume, the sector has also witnessed a huge quality improvement, with more and more commodities manufactured in China entering the global consumer market through cross-border e-commerce.
Regions across China are actively engaging in developing digital technologies, and embracing new business forms of foreign trade.
Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province has built an AI innovative development pilot zone, a national financial technology innovation and development pilot zone, and a world-class demonstration center for cross-border e-commerce.
Jiangsu province, neighbors Zhejiang, launched measures to promote digital trade, vowing to establish a digital trade sector for its international trade single-window system and build a statistical system for digital trade.
Today, more and more foreign products are entering Chinese families thanks to the application of digital technologies.
Several ambassadors, consuls, and counselors to China have joined livestream marketing activities since 2020, recommending products from their countries to Chinese consumers.
The transformation and upgrading of China’s foreign trade benefit the country and bring opportunities to the rest of the world.
So far, China has signed the Digital Silk Road memorandums of understanding for cooperation with over ten countries and advanced the Silk Road E-commerce bilateral cooperation mechanism with more than 20 countries. This indicates the deepening cooperation on digital trade between China and other countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative.
China is the world’s largest market for digital consumption. The digital economy has profoundly changed the ways of work and life of the Chinese people and introduced new visions to the rest of the world.
Implementing the Digital Silk Road will promote the development of cross-border e-commerce and is conducive to making employment more diversified and flexible in relevant countries.
China’s development in digital trade has brought dividends to many countries worldwide. More and more countries are expecting to cooperate with China in the sector.
An official with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) noted that China enjoys huge potential in e-commerce development, and cross-border e-commerce is able further to improve the openness and inclusiveness of the market.
The official added that the SCO hopes to strengthen cooperation among its members, especially in the fields of e-commerce and digital economy, by sharing China’s practical experiences.
