浙江省省长王浩在杭州专题调研跨境电商工作

This article centers on a special inspection of Zhejiang's cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) sector conducted by Zhejiang Provincial Governor Wang Hao in Hangzhou on September 12. During the inspection, Wang clarified that Zhejiang will advance high-quality CBEC development through reform and innovation, and accelerate the cultivation of new drivers for foreign trade. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. Hangzhou has completed construction of the Amazon Global Selling Asia-Pacific Training Center, Amazon's only comprehensive training center exclusively for sellers and China's first CBEC industrial park. It connects small and medium-sized (SMB) cross-border sellers with one-stop resources including logistics, marketing and financial services to address pain points in overseas operations.

2. Zhejiang will roll out a series of supporting policy measures next, including launching a provincial-level comprehensive CBEC service platform and building well-equipped physical CBEC parks to solve the difficulties SMBs face expanding overseas; improving the CBEC talent system by encouraging vocational schools to offer relevant courses and recruiting overseas live-streaming talents; and optimizing cross-border logistics and warehouse layout to cut logistics costs and help Zhejiang-made goods reach global markets.

This inspection sends a signal of multiple policy dividends for Zhejiang-based brands expanding overseas via cross-border e-commerce. Key takeaways for brands, focusing on channel development and resource support that brands prioritize, are as follows:

1. On the policy front, Zhejiang will coordinate to build a "platform + services" industrial support system, launch a provincial-level comprehensive CBEC service platform and develop fully functional physical CBEC parks. This will help brands integrate end-to-end resources covering logistics, marketing, promotion and finance, addressing the lack of competitiveness that comes with brands going it alone overseas.

2. For talent needs, the government will help solve the critical talent gap brands face when expanding globally. It will push vocational schools to offer CBEC-related courses, build a complete "recruitment, cultivation, retention" talent policy framework, and aggressively recruit overseas live-streaming talents to provide solid talent support for brands going overseas.

3. For logistics, the government will optimize shipping route and warehouse layout to lower cross-border logistics costs, help Zhejiang brands reach global end markets more efficiently, and support brands in expanding their overseas sales channels.

This inspection has unveiled multiple support policies and development opportunities for cross-border e-commerce sellers based in Zhejiang. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. To lower barriers to going global: For the common challenge of SMB sellers expanding overseas, Zhejiang will launch a provincial-level comprehensive CBEC service platform and develop professional physical CBEC parks, integrating one-stop service resources including logistics, marketing, promotion and finance. This helps sellers solve problems in overseas operations, eliminating the need to enter global markets independently.

2. To secure talent supply: To address the widespread talent gap among sellers, local authorities will encourage vocational schools to offer CBEC courses to improve the precision of workforce training, roll out a complete "recruitment, cultivation, retention" talent policy, and actively recruit overseas live-streaming talents to ease sellers' talent shortages.

3. To control operational costs: The government will optimize cross-border shipping routes and warehouse layout to bring down cross-border logistics costs, helping sellers expand product profit margins and grow their presence in overseas markets.

This inspection has charted a clear path and created tangible business opportunities for traditional manufacturing factories looking to transform and expand overseas via cross-border e-commerce. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. Transformation opportunities: The government strongly supports traditional manufacturing to transform and go global through CBEC. Platforms like Amazon have already built professional CBEC industrial parks and training centers that provide factories with one-stop go-to-market services, solving the difficulty factories face when expanding independently.

2. Supporting infrastructure: The government will coordinate to develop a provincial-level comprehensive CBEC service platform and physical industrial parks, integrating end-to-end go-to-market resources to lower the cost and entry barrier for factories expanding overseas. It will also improve the CBEC talent recruitment and cultivation system to address the professional talent gap that arises during factories' transformation.

3. Channel advantages: The government will optimize cross-border shipping routes and warehouse layout to cut logistics costs, helping high-quality Zhejiang-made goods reach overseas end markets more efficiently and secure more overseas orders. This signals that factories should speed up their connection with CBEC channels to achieve digital transformation.

This inspection clarifies development trends for the cross-border e-commerce industry, reveals core pain points for industry clients, and offers key takeaways for service providers as follows:

1. Industry development trends: Both national and local authorities attach great importance to CBEC development, prioritizing it as a new growth driver for foreign trade. Zhejiang is vigorously advancing high-quality CBEC development, and the entire industry is in a period of policy dividend with broad market growth space.

2. Core client pain points: A common challenge for the large number of small and medium-sized enterprises expanding overseas is that they struggle to integrate end-to-end go-to-market resources on their own, making independent global expansion very difficult. They also face widespread talent gaps and high cross-border logistics costs, leaving large unmet demand for professional services.

3. Growth direction for service providers: The government is pushing to build a "platform + services" industrial support system that requires participation from a full range of service providers. Service providers can connect with enterprise demand in segmented fields including logistics, marketing, promotion, finance and talent training, and capitalize on this policy opportunity to expand their business.

This inspection reveals current demand from cross-border enterprises for platforms and clarifies the local government's direction for supporting platform development. Key takeaways for platform operators are as follows:

1. Market demand: Most small and medium-sized cross-border enterprises expanding overseas struggle to integrate resources on their own, and have a strong demand for one-stop platform services that connect them with logistics, marketing, finance, talent and other resources to solve operational challenges overseas. This creates large untapped market demand.

2. Policy support: The government has explicitly affirmed the work of platforms like Amazon that build training centers and industrial parks, cultivate CBEC market entities, develop talent and drive the transformation of traditional manufacturing. It has clearly stated it supports platforms participating in CBEC industrial development, and Zhejiang's upcoming plan to build a provincial comprehensive service platform and physical industrial parks is open for platforms to participate and cooperate.

3. Platform development direction: Platforms can partner with the government to improve talent cultivation and reduce logistics costs, leverage policy support to expand their business in Zhejiang, attract more sellers and enterprises to join their platforms, and improve their own industrial ecosystems.

This inspection reveals new developments in China's cross-border e-commerce industry and new practices in local industrial governance. Key takeaways for researchers are as follows:

1. New industry trends: Cross-border e-commerce has become a core new driver for the high-quality development of China's foreign trade, and local governments are now vigorously pushing for its high-quality growth. The most prominent common pain points for small and medium-sized market entities expanding overseas are a lack of resources, talent shortages and high logistics costs. Platform-based services and industrial clustered development have emerged as the main future growth trends for the industry.

2. Policy insights: Zhejiang has developed a complete tested framework for advancing CBEC development: it integrates resources through a "platform + services" structure that combines a provincial comprehensive service platform and physical industrial parks; builds a full "recruitment, cultivation, retention" talent system through both educational training and external recruitment; and lowers logistics costs through infrastructure optimization. This framework offers high reference value for research on local CBEC industrial policies.

3. Business model research: The "platform + one-stop services + industrial park" model has been validated in practice as an effective business model adapted for small and medium-sized entities expanding overseas, and carries significant research value.