E-commerce Silk Road sees business opportunities

Business opportunities could be leveraged in the expansion of e-commerce on the Silk Road, which will help meet the increasingly sophisticated demand of Chinese consumers and facilitate the development of the digital economy in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, experts and company executives said on Friday.

They made these comments on Friday at the Silk Road E-Commerce Advisory Forum, jointly organized by the Fudan Institute of Belt and Road & Global Governance and the Yangpu District Trade Commission of Shanghai.

Chen Wenling, chief economist of the China Center for International Economic Exchange, pointed out that the value of China’s trade between Russia exceeded USD 240 billion last year, while between the economies of Central Asia it amounted to less than USD 100 billion, which indicates great growth opportunities.

As she noted, efforts have been made in this regard. More automakers and ultra-high-voltage power transmission companies have settled in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which is geographically closer to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, especially Central Asian countries. She believes that more experiments can be done in the e-commerce sector to further stimulate growth.

Farrukh Khakimov, head of the department at the Center for Development Strategy of Uzbekistan, said that in 2022 the digital economy accounted for only 2.77 percent. the country’s economy. The smaller size can also be interpreted as a growth prospect. Therefore, Uzbekistan can work more closely with countries like China to facilitate significant development of its digital economy, he said. Zhao Quan, senior adviser for trade policy at the Market Development Division of the United Nations International Trade Center, said digital trade can largely remove trade barriers and reduce costs. However, developing countries often lack the necessary infrastructure, regulatory framework, ecosystem, skills and talent. The Belt and Road Initiative has played a positive role by supporting many countries in building electricity, telecommunications and transport networks, thereby increasing trade efficiency, he said.

Freshippo, the grocery and fresh goods retail chain of e-commerce giant Alibaba, imported about 200 types of products from 29 e-commerce economies of the Silk Road in 2023, with annual purchase value exceeding 3 billion yuan ($410 million).

Chen Dan, vice president of Freshippo Industrial Research Institute, said these imports could meet Chinese consumers’ growing demand for high-quality products. Online platforms such as Freshippo can serve as the first stop for imports intending to enter the Chinese market, she added.

During the forum, the activities of the international alliance of think tanks Silk Road E-commerce were inaugurated. The founding members are more than 30 companies and professional institutions from home and abroad, such as the China Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Fudan University, online service platform Meituan, online discount store PDD Holdings, and QazTrade Center for Trade Policy Development Joint-Stock Company of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

This year, the Alliance will organize 36 workshops and forums to explore new trends in Chinese companies’ outbound reach, data flows and international cooperation.

The State Council, China’s government, approved the establishment of a pioneering cooperation zone in Shanghai in October to promote e-commerce on the Silk Road. So far, three innovative institutional policies have been promoted across the Yangtze River Delta region, including cross-border mutual customs clearance, cross-border electronic invoice interoperability, and a cross-border goods tracking pilot program, which was first carried out in Shanghai.

In the first three months of the year, the total value of e-commerce in Shanghai increased by 12.7 percent year-on-year to 897.9 billion yuan.