Alibaba ratchets up cross-border e-commerce initiatives in Yiwu, home to the world’s largest wholesale market
- The e-commerce giant’s latest effort in Yiwu marks another push to help revive global trade, as Covid-19 continues to threaten various parts of the world
- Yiwu recorded more than US$41 billion in total international trade last year
Alibaba Group Holding is ramping up efforts to make cross-border e-commerce more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with a series of initiatives in the eastern city of Yiwu – home to the world’s largest wholesale market for daily commodities.
The e-commerce giant on Monday announced plans to develop a digitised comprehensive bonded zone in Yiwu, located in Zhejiang province, that is expected to launch an offline exhibition area this September, according to the company’s statement. Ratified by China’s State Council in April this year, comprehensive bonded zones are specially designated commercial areas that implement favourable taxation and other policies under the supervision of customs officials.
A joint venture between Alibaba and Zhejiang China Commodities City Group, the Shanghai-listed operator of Yiwu China Commodities City, will develop that bonded zone as well as a cross-border trade service operation under the electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) framework.
“Alibaba will work together with Yiwu to further facilitate the city’s transformation into a digitised small commodities trading hub and digitised port,” said Daniel Zhang Yong, the company’s chairman and chief executive, in a statement. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.
The eWTP operation in Yiwu will provide SMEs with a one-stop platform for digitised trade services including customs clearance, foreign exchange settlement and tax procedures. It will be the third eWTP trade service platform, following the launch of similar operations in Hangzhou and in Liege, Belgium.
The eWTP was conceived by Alibaba founder Jack Ma in 2016 as an electronic Silk Road to connect every country and give SMEs the ability to sell anywhere in the world. The benefits of using eWTP hubs include speedy customs clearance, logistics support and minimal tariffs. To date, Alibaba has joined forces with the governments of Belgium, Malaysia, Rwanda and Ethiopia as well as Hangzhou and Yiwu in China to establish eWTP hubs.