China trade: B2B e-commerce booms as world looks to get back outside and resume ‘normal life’
- Demand for household products and outdoor sporting goods through online Chinese B2B channels surged during the first quarter, surpassing demand for masks and sanitisers
- Despite ongoing trade tensions and the global economic softening caused by the pandemic, China’s B2B trade continues to defy barriers
Sales of non-pandemic goods are on the rise as China’s business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce trade boomed alongside traditional trade in the first quarter of the year.
Exports of kitchen products, household appliances and outdoor sporting goods through B2B e-commerce channels during the quarter edged out masks and sanitisers – the dominant trade a year ago – according to one of China’s biggest B2B e-commerce marketplaces, DHgate.
The volume of trade in household appliances and kitchen products on DHgate’s platform surged fivefold compared with the same period last year, while trade in women’s apparel quadrupled and trade in wearable devices tripled. The comparison base was low, however, as sportswear and apparel trade was depressed a year ago amid global lockdowns.
The biggest importers of goods on its platform in the first quarter were the United States, Britain, France, Canada and Italy.
While parts of Europe are still buying more stay-at-home products such as laptops, many countries have started returning to “normal life” compared with six months ago, favouring outdoor goods such as running clothes, tents and bicycles, DHgate founder Diane Wang said.
Chinese exports and imports on B2B e-commerce platforms during the first three months of the year rose 46.5 per cent compared with last year, to 419.5 billion yuan (US$64 billion), according to international trade data released by Chinese customs on Tuesday. B2B exports, in particular, rose 69.3 per cent – helped by a low comparison base – and imports rose 15.1 per cent.
In total, the value of China’s exports grew by 30.6 per cent last month from a year earlier to US$241.13 billion, while the value of its imports grew by 38.1 per cent in March from a year earlier to US$227.34 billion.