Opinions of the Ministry of Commerce and other nine departments on expanding cross-border e-commerce exports and promoting the construction of overseas warehouses

People's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government:

Cross-border e-commerce is a new foreign trade format and new model that is driven by technological innovation, actively uses new technologies, adapts to new trends, and cultivates new driving forces. It cooperates with new foreign trade infrastructure such as overseas warehouses to reduce intermediate links and reach consumers directly. It is conducive to promoting the optimization of foreign trade structure and scale stability, and creating new advantages in international economic cooperation. It has become a living force in my country's foreign trade development and an important trend in the development of international trade. In order to expand cross-border e-commerce exports, optimize the layout of overseas warehouses, and accelerate the cultivation of new driving forces for foreign trade, with the consent of the State Council, the following opinions are hereby put forward.

1. Actively cultivate cross-border e-commerce business entities

(1) Vigorously support the development of cross-border e-commerce enabling industries. Guide local governments to rely on cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, cross-border e-commerce industrial parks, advantageous industrial clusters and foreign trade transformation and upgrading bases to cultivate the development benchmark of the "cross-border e-commerce enabling industrial belt" model. Encourage qualified places to focus on local industries, build industrial belt display and selection centers, cooperate with cross-border e-commerce platforms, and establish "online zones" for industrial belts. Support the introduction of new technologies such as digital people in compliance with laws and regulations, expand sales channels through online live broadcasts and other methods, and drive the export of more advantageous products. Encourage local governments to support traditional foreign trade enterprises in developing cross-border e-commerce based on their unique advantages, and establish a marketing service system that integrates online and offline and links domestic and overseas.

(2) Improve the ability to serve cross-border e-commerce enterprises. Support qualified localities to improve their "one-to-one" service capabilities for cross-border e-commerce companies with large local trade scales and good driving effects. Eligible e-commerce technology and other enterprises can apply for high-tech enterprises or technologically advanced service enterprises in accordance with regulations to cultivate and strengthen a number of leading scientific and technological enterprises. Continue to promote brand building, encourage qualified cross-border e-commerce companies to build independent stations and overseas brand operation centers, enhance brand cultivation capabilities, actively fulfill social responsibilities, and create a good corporate image.

(3) Support cross-border e-commerce companies to "go abroad through exhibitions". Support cross-border e-commerce platforms, export, payment, logistics, overseas warehouses and other enterprises to participate in key exhibitions such as the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) and the Global Digital Trade Expo. Support the improvement of the exhibition level of existing local cross-border e-commerce exhibitions in accordance with the principle of marketization, and hold overseas special promotion and docking activities for key products and key markets. Encourage qualified local governments to organize enterprises to participate in exhibitions abroad to provide more display and docking platforms for cross-border e-commerce companies.

(4) Strengthen organizational construction and talent training in the cross-border e-commerce industry. Give full play to the role of local industry organizations, strengthen self-discipline in the cross-border e-commerce industry, guide orderly competition, and enhance rights protection capabilities. Guide qualified and willing entities to study and apply for the establishment of a national cross-border e-commerce industry organization. Encourage qualified places to introduce standards for identifying high-level talents in the cross-border e-commerce industry, include talents in relevant fields into the talent demand catalog and high-level talent catalog, and introduce supporting measures based on actual conditions. Implement the current relevant preferential personal income tax policies. Encourage colleges and universities to offer "Cross-border E-commerce + Minority Language" related courses through full-time and part-time methods to provide talent support for cross-border e-commerce export companies to explore emerging markets.

2. Increase financial support

(5) Smooth financing channels for cross-border e-commerce companies. Encourage financial institutions to explore and optimize service models to provide financial support to cross-border e-commerce companies with real trade backgrounds. Encourage the optimization of export credit insurance underwriting models to provide insurance protection for cross-border e-commerce domestic procurement.

(6) Optimize cross-border fund settlement services. Support cross-border e-commerce companies to offset and settle the marketing, warehousing, logistics and other expenses incurred overseas by export goods with export payment in accordance with regulations. Simplify foreign exchange revenue and expenditure procedures for small and micro cross-border e-commerce companies and further expand settlement channels. Support qualified banks and non-bank payment institutions to provide efficient and low-cost cross-border fund settlement services to cross-border e-commerce companies based on electronic transaction information as required.

(7) Promote cross-border e-commerce supply chains to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Promote leading cross-border e-commerce companies to strengthen information sharing, encourage financial institutions to make full use of enterprise-related information, carry out Supply Chain Finance services in accordance with laws and regulations, and better empower the development of upstream and downstream industrial chains. Encourage powerful cross-border e-commerce companies to actively apply new technologies and tools such as big data analysis, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence on the premise of complying with domestic and foreign laws and regulations to improve the efficiency of data analysis, R & D design, marketing services, and supply and demand docking.

3. Strengthen the construction of relevant infrastructure and logistics systems

(8) Promote the high-quality development of cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouses. Coordinate and make good use of existing funding channels to support the development of cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouse enterprises. Give full play to the role of a guiding fund for innovative development of trade in services and guide more social capital to support the development of cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouses and other related enterprises in a market-oriented manner. Encourage qualified places to make good use of existing equity investment fund resources, explore market-oriented methods to establish industrial development funds, and strengthen support for cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouse enterprises. Formulate and issue operational guidelines for tax refunds for cross-border e-commerce exports overseas warehouse business to further guide enterprises to make good use of current policies.

(9) Enhance cross-border e-commerce logistics support capabilities. Promote the construction of overseas warehouses along the China-Europe freight trains and actively develop the "China-Europe freight trains + cross-border e-commerce" model. Support logistics companies to combine the development characteristics of the cross-border e-commerce industry and strengthen the construction of transportation support capabilities such as sea transportation, air transportation, railway, and multimodal transport. Encourage logistics companies to cooperate with host country delivery companies to improve their "last mile" performance capabilities.

(10) Assist cross-border e-commerce related companies to "go global". Update and release country-specific cooperation guidelines, strengthen "going global" guidance and overseas registration for cross-border e-commerce related enterprises, guide compliance and orderly operations, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. Encourage cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouse enterprises to settle in trade and logistics overseas economic and trade cooperation zones and make good use of telecommunications, networks, logistics and other supporting facilities and services in the cooperation zone. Support the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone to strengthen cooperation with various overseas economic and trade cooperation zones, ports, etc., and explore experiences and practices in innovating the synergy and linkage of domestic and foreign industries.

4. Optimize supervision and services

(11) Optimize cross-border e-commerce export supervision. Explore and promote the "inspection before shipment" model for cross-border e-commerce export LCL. Strengthen the informatization construction of the customs cross-border e-commerce customs clearance service system and further improve the system functions to improve the level of customs clearance facilitation for enterprises. Study and expand the pilot project of cross-border e-commerce retail exports and cross-customs returns.

(12) Improve cross-border data management and service levels. On the premise of complying with legal and regulatory requirements and ensuring security, promote and standardize the cross-border flow of data, and allow the orderly and free flow of data in application scenarios such as cross-border e-commerce and cross-border payment. Encourage cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouse enterprises to use data to empower upstream and downstream industrial chains in accordance with laws and regulations, and enhance the flexible supply capabilities of production enterprises.

5. Actively carry out standard and rule construction and international cooperation

(13) Accelerate the construction of standards in the field of cross-border e-commerce. Encourage local governments to pool resources such as industries, enterprises, universities, and think tanks to actively participate in the construction of standards in cross-border e-commerce production, marketing, payment, logistics, and after-sales. Guide qualified associations, enterprises, etc. to participate in the formulation of national standards and industry standards in new foreign trade formats such as cross-border e-commerce. Promote the docking of import and export product standards with major cross-border e-commerce markets.

(14) Improve the level of compliance operations of enterprises. Revise the Guidelines for Intellectual Property Protection of Cross-Border E-Commerce. Encourage local governments to increase training on intellectual property protection and the protection of overseas intellectual property rights and interests to improve corporate risk response capabilities. Support qualified places to explore and build cross-border e-commerce compliance service platforms, provide enterprises with overseas legal and tax resources, and guide enterprises to properly respond to overseas disputes. Guide enterprises to abide by the laws and regulations of the host country and respect customs. Actively promote enterprises to improve their green level and promote renewable, recyclable and degradable products and technologies.

(15) Continue to deepen international exchanges and cooperation. Actively participate in negotiations, exchanges and cooperation with multilateral mechanisms such as the WTO, G20, BRICS, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and UPU, and deeply participate in the formulation of international standards and rules in electronic documents, paperless trade, and electronic transactions. Promote the inclusion of cross-border e-commerce, logistics express delivery, payment and settlement and other issues in free trade zone negotiations, bilateral economic and trade joint (mixed) committees, and trade smooth working groups. Vigorously develop "Silk Road E-commerce" and strengthen economic and trade cooperation in relevant fields with countries co-building the "Belt and Road". Encourage the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone and the "Silk Road E-commerce" cooperation pilot zone to deeply align with international high-standard economic and trade rules such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), and actively carry out pilot trials and stress tests.

All regions, relevant departments and units must resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, follow the various measures and requirements put forward in this opinion, refine work measures according to the division of responsibilities, and form a joint effort. The Ministry of Commerce should work with relevant departments and units to strengthen overall coordination, strengthen central-local coordination, promote the detailed implementation of various tasks, continuously summarize and promote good experiences and good practices, publicize the effectiveness of cross-border e-commerce exports and overseas warehouse construction in an appropriate way, and promote the healthy and sustainable development of new foreign trade formats and new models.

Ministry of Commerce

National Development and Reform Commission

Ministry of Finance

Ministry of Transport

people's Bank of China

General Administration of Customs

administration of taxation

General Administration of Financial Supervision

the National Network information Office

June 8, 2024