On May 7, the opening ceremony of the 5th Western Cross-border E-commerce Expo and the Sichuan Cross-border E-commerce Ecological Conference were held grandly at the Chengdu Century City International Convention and Exhibition Center.
With the theme of “Opening the West and Connecting the World”, this conference brings together government, administration, schools and enterprises to discuss new trends in the industry, discuss new ecological cooperation, explore new paths to the sea, and help Sichuan build a new highland of inland open economy.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Chengdu Comprehensive Pilot Zone, Sichuan’s first cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone, and is also a key node for the fifth anniversary of the Western Cross-border E-commerce Expo.
Since the “14th Five-Year Plan”, Sichuan’s cross-border e-commerce has made a leap from “model exploration” to “ecological construction”. The transaction scale has increased from tens of billions to hundreds of billions, with an average annual growth rate of more than 20%. The number of comprehensive pilot zones has expanded from 4 to 9. The construction and development level of Chengdu’s comprehensive pilot zones has ranked among the top in the country. “Sichuan brand” industrial belts such as shoes and clothing, auto parts, simulated dinosaurs, and bamboo products have accelerated their overseas expansion.
After five years of accumulation and four iterations, the Western Cross-border E-commerce Expo has witnessed the vigorous rise of cross-border e-commerce in Chengdu and led cross-border e-commerce in the west and Sichuan from single-point breakthroughs to full-region linkage. It has become a professional cross-border e-commerce exhibition platform that deepens industry and trade collaboration between the east and west and gathers resources in the west.
Qiao Fang, member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce, said in his speech that the Western Cross-border E-commerce Expo should serve as a “booster” for industrial upgrading and provide a display and exchange platform for featured industries, first-of-its-kind technologies, and first-show products; it should become a “main hub” for resource integration, promote the efficient aggregation of industry, technology, services and other elements, and provide support for the ecological construction of the entire industry chain; it should explore “new paths” for market-oriented exhibitions, cultivate self-development capabilities, and achieve market-oriented and sustainable development of exhibition operations.
The Department of Commerce, the Department of Economy and Information Technology, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Chengdu Customs, the Provincial Taxation Bureau, the Provincial Administration of Foreign Exchange and other departments focused on the urgent needs of cross-border e-commerce enterprises and the construction of industry ecology. Focusing on key links such as industrial support, customs clearance convenience, financial and tax compliance, and foreign exchange settlement, they interpreted business-friendly policies and publicized service measures, and worked together to promote trade-industry integration and high-quality development of the industry.
Chengdu International Trade Group introduced the cross-border e-commerce overseas service system, and the Provincial Port Investment Group promoted the “Belt and Road” Import and Export Commodity Distribution Center (Sichuan) Headquarters Project to provide cross-border e-commerce companies with “one-stop” overseas solutions.
The featured product show and source factory directory released at the same time set a stage for Sichuan’s advantageous industries to connect with global channels.
Industry scholars, platform executives, and technical experts focused on themes such as “new overseas expansion, precise empowerment, digital drive, and ecological co-construction” to provide practical paths for the globalization of Sichuan enterprises and products.
Huang Yuanpu, founder of Magic Oasis, proposed that cross-border e-commerce has upgraded from the transnational flow of goods to the global migration of production relations, organizational capabilities and cultural minds, and companies need to rebuild their competitiveness with global thinking.
Liu Fengge, Amazon’s senior director of global store opening, said that from the four dimensions of AI innovation, global expansion, resilient supply chain, and local empowerment, we will help Sichuan sellers delve into the global market and join us in a new cross-border future.
Wen Zhihong, partner of Chengdu Yunya Information Technology Co., Ltd., proposed that Sichuan enterprises need to upgrade from “supply overseas” to “precision overseas”, use data + AI to empower product innovation, traffic optimization and business decision-making, and improve overseas efficiency and conversion rate.
This Western Cross-Border E-Commerce Expo is guided by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce and the Department of Economy and Information Technology, and hosted by the Chengdu Cross-Border E-Commerce Association and the Provincial Suppliers Chamber of Commerce.
The exhibition area is about 20,000 square meters, with five major exhibition areas including cross-border e-commerce comprehensive test area, export platform, source factory, comprehensive service, and talent service. More than 300 source factories, 20 advantageous industry categories, more than 10 international leading platforms, more than 40 ecological service companies, and 18 universities will gather at the site. The number of visitors is expected to exceed 30,000.
During the exhibition, more than 10 theme activities will be held, including spring cross-border e-commerce source factory supply and demand docking, Amazon Global Store, Made in China, eBay, Wayfair, TikTok, Meikeduo and other investment promotion and empowerment conferences, reverse overseas shopping, and consumer goods going overseas to Thailand.
In the interview, the reporter found that “if you don’t go to sea, you are out” is increasingly becoming a consensus.
Ou Lingli, founder of Sichuan Overseas Chinese Investment Entry and Exit Service Co., Ltd., said that for enterprises, “going overseas” is not a multiple-choice question about whether to go overseas, but a must-answer question about how to go overseas, such as what model should be used to go overseas and how to establish a cross-border capital pool to ensure long-term stability for enterprises on their way to overseas.
At this Western Cross-border E-commerce Expo, Chongzhou Home Furnishing Industry brought high-quality enterprises to participate in the exhibition to link global business opportunities.
“The core of cross-border e-commerce is the supply chain.” Wei Rongcheng, secretary-general of the Chongzhou Furniture Chamber of Commerce, said that the industrial output value of Chongzhou’s home furnishing industry will reach 15.2 billion yuan in 2025, accounting for 78% of Chengdu City and 61% of Sichuan Province.
Chongzhou Home Furnishing Industry Belt empowers companies to go global with its full-chain advantages, allowing Sichuan Style Home Furnishings to go global.
The Western Cross-border E-commerce Expo is not only a grand event for the cross-border e-commerce industry, but also a hub for the integration of industry and education.
Lu Ling, a teacher specializing in international trade at Geely College, has participated in four consecutive sessions. Her intuitive feeling is that there are more and more exhibitors and international faces. “This year we have organized students from nine majors of the business school to participate in the conference, hoping to provide high-quality technical and technical talents for the high-quality development of cross-border e-commerce in the west.”
