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

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

Companies such as Shein, PDD Holdings’ Temu and Alibaba’s AliExpress, which mainly ship products made in China “overseas” 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.

Government ministries and departments will improve financing channels and help cross-border e-commerce companies “enter the global market,” the ministry said.

• Reporting by Albee Zhang and Casey Hall; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Miral Fahmy of Reuters.