Cross-border e-commerce pilot zone opens bonded import business to cut price, logistic time

GUANGZHOU — A cross-border e-commerce pilot zone in South China started its first bonded import business on Feb 3, a practice believed to benefit businesses in terms of lower logistics cost and provide consumers with cheap and fine products, local officials said.

The comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zone in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, ushered in the new business hoping to give full play to the proximity of Hong Kong and Macao.

Zhuhai is connected to the Hong Kong airport since the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge opened to traffic in October last year.

The business model allows e-commerce platforms to purchase a large quantity of goods from overseas according to their market forecasts and consumer demands. The goods will be imported and stored in the special customs-supervised area before being delivered to consumers as personal items.

Such practices enable e-commerce enterprises to buy quality products from around the world at a lower price with less logistic time, according to Lin Xibin, a local commerce official.

The bonded import business program is expected to attract businesses from China’s Hong Kong and Macao, as well as businesses from Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries and regions.

Zhuhai is one of the 22 cities that was identified as a venue for comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zones by the State Council, or China’s cabinet, in July last year.

China’s e-commerce market has developed at a double-digit pace for years. E-commerce transaction totaled 22.69 trillion yuan ($3.37 trillion) in the first three quarters of 2018, up 11.2 percent year-on-year.