In the era of economic globalization and the rapid development of the digital economy, cross-border e-commerce has become a new growth pole for my country’s foreign trade.
The exchange of goods across national borders cannot be separated from the support of the logistics system.
In recent years, with the wave of e-commerce going overseas, national policy support, and the continuous improvement of overseas transportation networks, my country’s cross-border e-commerce logistics industry is in the ascendant and is in the rising stage of rapid rise and vigorous development. It has shown strong development vitality in terms of market size, operating model, global layout, etc., and is also constantly exploring its own high-quality development path.
As global online consumer demand continues to be released, the scale of my country’s cross-border e-commerce transactions has increased year by year, driving the cross-border logistics industry to usher in broad development space.
From traditional foreign trade bulk cargo transportation to today’s diversified and parallel delivery of small parcels, dedicated line transportation, and overseas warehouse distribution, cross-border logistics has long since broken away from a single transportation mode and has become an important bridge connecting domestic production and global consumption.
Relying on a complete domestic industrial chain, a developed express logistics system, and international trunk routes such as China-Europe trains, ocean shipping, and international air transport, my country’s cross-border logistics coverage continues to expand, not only stabilizing mature markets in Europe and the United States, but also gradually penetrating into emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. The number of logistics packages has grown steadily, and the overall market of the industry has continued to expand.
Local logistics companies such as Cainiao, SF Express, Sinotrans, and Zongteng continue to deploy global networks, the number of overseas warehouses continues to increase, and logistics infrastructure construction is increasingly improved, fully demonstrating the strong vitality of the industry.
Nowadays, my country’s cross-border e-commerce logistics has formed a diversified and multi-level logistics model system to meet the diverse needs of different commodities and different sellers.
International postal parcels have wide coverage and low prices, and are suitable for light and small commodities; cross-border dedicated line logistics takes into account both timeliness and cost, and has become the mainstream choice for small and medium-sized sellers due to its high cost performance; international commercial express delivery is fast and has complete services, and is mostly used for the transportation of high-value goods; the overseas warehouse model enables local delivery, greatly shortening delivery time, and improving the shopping experience of overseas consumers.
Multiple modes of transportation complement each other, and multimodal transport by sea, land, and air develops collaboratively to build an all-round, multi-link cross-border logistics network.
The country continues to optimize customs clearance policies, simplify customs declaration procedures, promote paperless customs clearance, and improve cross-border e-commerce supervision policies. At the same time, it strongly supports the development of overseas warehouse construction and cross-border returns facilitation. Policy dividends continue to be released, ensuring the steady progress of the industry.
Despite the rapid development momentum of the industry, the emerging cross-border e-commerce logistics still faces many development difficulties.
First of all, cross-border logistics links are long and complex, involving multiple processes such as domestic collection, trunk transportation, multi-country customs clearance, overseas warehousing, and terminal delivery. The overall logistics cost is high, which compresses corporate profits to a certain extent.
Secondly, the delivery timeliness in some areas is unstable and is easily affected by route fluctuations, port congestion, and geographical factors. Logistics delays occur from time to time.
At the same time, the development of reverse logistics is lagging behind. The return and exchange process for cross-border goods is cumbersome, time-consuming and expensive, and the after-sales system is not perfect.
In addition, the customs policies and tariff rules of various countries around the world are quite different, and compliance risks are high. Logistics resources are unevenly distributed in different regions. Infrastructure in emerging markets is still relatively weak, and the overall coordination ability of the supply chain needs to be improved.
Opportunities and challenges coexist. If we want to promote the sustainable and healthy development of cross-border e-commerce logistics, we need the joint efforts of many parties.
Logistics companies should speed up the integration of resources, vigorously develop multimodal transport, reduce logistics costs through large-scale transportation, rationally deploy global warehousing networks, improve the layout of overseas warehouses, open up cross-border reverse logistics channels, and solve the problem of returns.
Jiangsu Logistics and Supply Chain Management Association has also established a cross-border special committee to serve cross-border e-commerce logistics companies. With the help of big data, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and other digital technologies, it builds an intelligent logistics information platform to achieve full traceability and visual management of logistics, and improve warehousing and sorting efficiency and supply chain coordination.
Enterprises should strengthen their awareness of compliance, familiarize themselves with the trade rules of various countries, avoid customs clearance and tariff risks, diversify transportation routes, and enhance the supply chain’s ability to resist risks.
While consolidating the European and American markets, we will deepen the logistics network in emerging markets, expand the scope of services, and create a more independent, stable and efficient global logistics system.
Cross-border e-commerce logistics is the blood of foreign trade overseas. Now the industry is in the ascendant and has a bright future.
Under the wave of the times, my country’s cross-border logistics is constantly breaking through bottlenecks, improving the system, and going global.
In the future, as infrastructure continues to improve, digital technology deeply empowers, and global networks continue to improve, my country’s cross-border e-commerce logistics will steadily develop in the direction of intelligence, globalization, and integration, continue to help domestic goods go overseas, connect domestic and international dual cycles, and release greater value on the global trade stage.
