Foreign pastures provide rich pickings for e-traders

On a busy day late last month Zhang Wanchen, 34, a white-collar worker in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, placed an order online using her smartphone, to buy a gift box of Japanese cookies, dried cranberries from the United States, a carton of New Zealand milk, Norwegian salmon and French red wine, all of which would be delivered to her home in the next few days.

“These products all looked and tasted authentic, and seemed worth the prices I paid for them,” Zhang said. “When I studied overseas I often got cosmetics, handbags and electronic devices for my relatives and friends at home.

“After returning to China I found online shopping very convenient, and more discounts are available on such foreign products when they have sales.”

Zhang is among a growing number of Chinese consumers who are buying imported and foreign-branded products, which have become a key driver of upgraded consumption fuelled by government incentives. Lower tariffs, an expanded list of imported goods and a gradual improvement in cross-border logistics are all important, industry insiders say.

Cross-border online shopping was a term largely unheard of 20 years ago. However, it has become an important driving force for bolstering the steady growth of foreign trade, they said.

A report by the Consumption and Industry Development Research Institute of the Chinese e-commerce company JD says people aged 26-35 are the main consumers of imported commodities, accounting for 45 per cent of buyers, while consumers in the 46-55 age group have contributed to the fastest growth in purchases of imported products.

Personal care products, cosmetics and skincare, food and beverages as well as maternity and infant products are the categories most favoured by Chinese consumers buying imports, the report said.

While residents living in first-tier cities have become the primary buyers of imported products, those in lower-tier markets have shown a growing interest in buying such commodities, it said.

“Chinese consumers have shown rising purchasing demand for diversified, personalised and niche overseas products, and are attaching more importance to the value of the goods they buy,” said Zhang Zhouping, an analyst who tracks business-to-business and cross-border activities at the Internet Economy Institute, a domestic consultancy.

Cross-border e-commerce has played a significant role in enriching product supply, bolstering the development of new business models and promoting the recovery of consumption, he said.

China’s cross-border e-commerce industry has grown strongly in recent years, and its imports and exports were worth 1.22 trillion yuan (£130.6 billion) in the first half of this year, 10.5 per cent more than in the corresponding period last year, the General Administration of Customs said.

The market consultancy iiMedia Research said China’s further opening-up, improving logistics and deliveries and consumers’ rising demand for imported goods will provide a big boost to upgrading consumption.

Even as foreign brands use cross-border e-commerce channels to reach Chinese consumers, Chinese businesses are speeding up their push into overseas markets.

Temu, the cross-border e-commerce platform of the Chinese online discounter PDD Holdings, has become popular among overseas shoppers because it offers a wide range of goods, including apparel, consumer electronics, jewellery, shoes, cosmetics and baby products at competitive prices.

Temu, which opened in the US in September 2022, has entered more than 50 countries, covering North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

Chen Lei, chairman and co-chief executive of PDD Holdings, said the company hopes to use the supply chain capacities it has built in recent years to create a new channel that enables people in different countries and regions to directly buy products from factories, providing more flexible and personalised supply chains and more cost-effective shopping.

The fast-fashion online retailer Shein is ratcheting up resources to help Chinese manufacturers and brands expand their presence abroad and give a strong boost to the transformation of traditional industries by making use of its digital and flexible supply chains.

For sellers good at designing and producing products, but that have no overseas sales and operations experience, Shein said, it will provide one-stop services, including commodity operations, warehousing, logistics, customer service and after-sales service.