Zhuhai further boosts cross-border e-commerce

Zhuhai is looking to achieve 5 billion yuan ($750 million) in annual transaction volume of cross-border e-commerce and have three provincial parks dedicated to this industry by 2021.

The city recently issued a string of incentives to support cross-border e-commerce enterprises, platforms, and cultivation of specialists – all to serve its three-year goal of becoming an important pole of cross-border e-commerce in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It is also striving to become a cross-border e-commerce cooperation platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries and Latin America.

The setting of the targets is based on a foundation of solid development. In July last year, Zhuhai was approved as a national pilot zone for cross-border e-commerce. The Zhuhai Municipal Bureau of Commerce reported the total volume of cross-border e-commerce imports and exports for retail recorded in customs statistics as 170 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 160 percent.

According to the stipulations, for parks (buildings) that have 20 cross-border tax-paying e-commerce enterprises that accumulate over 100 million yuan in transaction value , their operators will be given one-time reward of up to 2 million yuan for each of the parks (buildings). The reward amount rises to 4 million yuan if the number of cross-border e-commerce enterprises reaches 50 and transaction volume hits 500 million yuan. In addition, these parks will be prioritized to become national and Guangdong provincial e-commerce demonstration bases.

Cross-border e-commerce trade platforms, logistics chain supply platforms, logistics distribution centers, and international express centers that were newly registered in Zhuhai can be awarded up to 200 million yuan for each $10 million or 100 million yuan in paid-in registered capital. The maximum for a single project is 100 million yuan.

Enterprises that use third-party or self-operated e-commerce platforms and achieve 10 million yuan or more in annual transactions will receive a maximum of 5 million yuan per year based on 1 percent of the annual transaction amount. In the subsequent year, if transaction value increases by at least 20 percent a reward of up to 5 million yuan will be granted based on 1 percent of the increase.

The integrated development of online and offline (O2O) is another focus. To support the cross-border e-commerce import commodity display and trading centers (experience centers) in Zhuhai, each sq m of actual used area will be awarded up to 300 yuan. The subsidy for each company will not exceed 2 million yuan.

The government will also emphasize talent cultivation by giving one-time subsidies of 1 million yuan to local schools that enroll more than 50 students in the major of cross-border e-commerce, provided that their program is included in the unified enrollment plan of the national colleges and universities or the province's technical college enrollment plan.

Zhuhai will apply a quick cross-border clearance mode at the Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and other land ports to faciliate cross-border e-commerce. [Photo by Guan Mingrong / southcn.com]