Ningbo FTZ hits $3b in cross-border e-commerce imports

Ningbo Free Trade Zone (FTZ) has seen cross-border e-commerce imports worth 21.47 billion yuan ($3.1 billion) handled in the five year period up to Nov 26, 2018, from Nov 27, 2013, the day when Ningbo FTZ launched the business, according to Ningbo Customs. 

The figure accounts for 72.3 percent of the city's total cross-border e-commerce imports. 

Over the five years, altogether 38.13 million consumers from across the nation have purchased goods via the cross-border e-commerce platform of the zone, among whom those from the Yangtze River Delta take up more than half. The variety of goods has grown from originally only paper diapers to currently over 10,000 kinds covering food, cosmetics and health care products.

"The rapid growth of our cross-border e-commerce business benefits a lot from the support and guidance of the city's regulators such as Ningbo Customs," said an official from the administrative committee of Ningbo FTZ. 

Ningbo Customs have been continuously improving regulations of the cross-border e-commerce business in the zone over the five years, making goods traceable and elevating the operating efficiency of e-commerce businesses. 

It has also vigorously guided the expansion of storage companies, with the warehouse area in the zone now covering 420,000 square meters. 

Furthermore, another 42,000 sq m of storage area were temporarily added for this year's Double Eleven shopping festival on Nov 11, contributing significantly to the 1 billion yuan transaction amount achieved in the zone that day, said an official from Ningbo Customs.

Ningbo Fuli Logistics Co, the first storage and logistics company for cross-border e-commerce business in the zone, is now a model storage company with 30,000 sq m warehouse area, thanks to the support of Ningbo Customs, according to Li Sun, vice executive general manager of the company.

Ningbo FTZ is one of the nation's first pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce business. It has become a major cross-border e-commerce platform for globally leading e-commerce giants such as Amazon, Alibaba and JD, and has housed more than 560 cross-border e-commerce companies over the five years.