Zhang Kuo, Alibaba International Station: The next stage of dividends for cross-border e-commerce may come from the digitization of the entire foreign trade process

Zhang Kuo, president of Alibaba International Station , said in the official live broadcast room of the International Station on the evening of June 9 that according to data released by the General Administration of Customs, private small and medium-sized enterprises have become the endogenous driving force for high-quality growth of cross-border trade.

He believes that if the explosive growth of cross-border e-commerce in the past 20 years came from the digitalization of traditional foreign trade transactions , in the next 20 years, the growth dividends of small and medium-sized foreign trade companies will come from the business efficiency and certainty brought about by the digitalization of the entire process and cycle of foreign trade.

Private SMEs have become the endogenous driving force for high-quality growth of cross-border e-commerce

According to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs , China's exports of goods in the first five months of 2022 amounted to 8.94 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.4%. Among them, private enterprises performed well, with exports of 5.28 trillion yuan, an increase of 16.7%, accounting for 59% of the total export value , and have become an important pillar.

As a new form and model of foreign trade, cross-border e-commerce platforms have shown increasingly strong new momentum in driving the growth of private small and medium-sized enterprises. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, in the past five years, the import and export volume of cross-border e-commerce of private small and medium-sized enterprises has increased nearly 10 times, accounting for nearly 40% of China's foreign trade, and has been growing rapidly at a rate of more than double digits each year .

Caption: Over the past 20 years, the proportion of private enterprises in my country's exports has steadily increased, becoming an endogenous driving force for high-quality growth in foreign trade.

Zhang Kuo said that judging from the data released by the General Administration of Customs, private small and medium-sized enterprises have become the endogenous driving force for high-quality growth in cross-border trade. From the perspective of industrial development, the 20 years of rapid growth of private enterprises are also the 20 years when China's foreign trade has gradually achieved digitalization.

He believes that if the explosive growth of cross-border e- commerce in the past 20 years came from the digitalization of traditional foreign trade transactions, then in the next 20 years, the dividends of further growth of small and medium-sized foreign trade businesses will come from the efficiency and certainty brought by the digitalization of the entire process and cycle of foreign trade, from transactions to delivery.

In addition, in the field of foreign trade digitalization, small and medium-sized enterprises are changing from "calculating big accounts" to "calculating small accounts" in the production, operation and trade links. Zhang Kuo said that in the stage of rapid development, foreign trade merchants focus on chasing trends, expanding industries, and opening up markets, and they calculate the "big accounts" of scale. However, at a time when the industry is facing uncertain risks and challenges, Alibaba International Station will help small and medium-sized enterprises to calculate "small accounts" more finely in terms of production and research and development, brand marketing, service performance, compliance and risk control, etc., and improve efficiency, reduce risks, and enhance competitiveness through more certain digital means.

(Photo: Alibaba International Station provides deterministic digital product services in production and research and development, brand marketing, service fulfillment, compliance and risk control, etc., helping foreign trade merchants improve efficiency, reduce risks and enhance competitiveness.)

Foreign trade SMEs have the ability to accept high-quality overseas orders

Many small and medium-sized enterprises are concerned about the transfer of global supply chains to emerging developing countries in Southeast Asia. Zhang Kuo believes that the selective spillover of domestic supply chains is not a passive transfer. From the perspective of global division of labor, labor-intensive industries flow to countries and regions with lower labor costs, and this trend has never changed.

He revealed that judging from the data of cross-border platforms, the increase in the export share of general manufacturing in emerging countries such as Vietnam in recent years has not had an impact on the business of China's foreign trade SMEs. In fact, China's supply chain has begun to accelerate the transformation to high-quality development. Comparing the export data of related industries in Germany and Vietnam, China's exports are approaching and surpassing traditional high-end manufacturing developed countries in high value-added production and manufacturing, while the fastest growing markets in emerging countries such as Vietnam are labor-intensive industries represented by clothing.

From the perspective of the current foreign trade export structure, since last year, the value of China's exports per kilogram has increased by about 20% year-on-year, mainly driven by the continued shift of exports to high value-added industries. This is a change in the purchasing strategy of the European and American purchasing markets under multiple changing factors, which in turn proves that China 's foreign trade small and medium-sized enterprises have the overall supply capacity to undertake high-quality overseas orders.

The relevant data of Alibaba International Station also supports this judgment: in the past three years, high value-added industries such as new energy, machinery, auto parts, and consumer electronics have contributed the main growth force. Among them, the transaction volume of the new energy industry in the international station increased by more than 130% year-on-year from January to April this year .

Note: Customs data analysis shows that China's export value per kilogram maintained a 20% growth from January to April   , reflecting the high-quality growth trend of China's foreign trade

Alibaba aims to become a "digital export port" at the doorstep of merchants

According to the reporter, in order to further provide full-link cross-border trade protection to small and medium-sized foreign trade merchants, Alibaba International Station plans to launch a newly upgraded digital comprehensive service solution in September this year, covering the core issues of each link in the three stages of pre-sales, sales and after-sales. It is expected to be fully open to all cross-border merchants to help merchants receive orders , ship goods and receive payments .

Zhang Kuo said that under the new circumstances, Alibaba International Station will become a "digital outlet" opened at the doorstep of merchants .

Note: Alibaba International Station plans to launch a full-chain digital guarantee service for transactions in September this year. The service is expected to be open to all cross-border merchants.

Earlier in May this year , 12 local governments and industry associations in China jointly launched the "Ten Measures to Relieve Foreign Trade Difficulties" with Alibaba International Station to help foreign trade enterprises stabilize orders and secure markets. The Ten Measures to Relieve Foreign Trade Difficulties include five deterministic measures, namely, deterministic business opportunity guarantee, deterministic logistics guarantee, deterministic financial guarantee, deterministic service guarantee, and deterministic talent guarantee .

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