China publishes draft regulations aimed at developing cross-border e-commerce

BEIJING (Reuters) – China published draft regulations on Tuesday aimed at promoting the construction of overseas warehouses and developing cross-border e-commerce activities, which China’s Commerce Ministry says has become a significant force in foreign trade.

Companies such as Shein, PDD Holdings’ Temu and Alibaba’s AliExpress, which primarily ship made-in-China products to markets around the world, have seen rapid growth in recent years.

This has opened up a new growth path for some companies that previously focused on domestic consumption, which remains muted by the macroeconomic slowdown, the prolonged housing crisis and income uncertainty.

The Commerce Ministry’s statement, which included draft rules for both inbound cross-border e-commerce and outbound e-commerce, said it would also seek to improve cross-border data management and optimize supervision of cross-border exports.

The ministries said national ministries and government departments will improve financing channels and help cross-border e-commerce companies “enter the global market.”

(Reporting by Albee Zhang and Casey Hall; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Miral Fahmy)