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AI, cross-border e-commerce are bright spots for Chinese internet firms in 2024, UBS says

  • China’s e-commerce platforms, facing intense domestic competition, are ramping up overseas expansion, according to the Swiss bank
  • AI also remains a main theme for Chinese internet companies, although monetisation continues to be a challenge, the bank says

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Shipping containers at a port in Shanghai. Photo: Reuters

Chinese internet firms can look to chase growth through international markets and artificial intelligence (AI) in 2024, according to UBS.

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China’s e-commerce platforms, facing intense domestic competition with new rivals and short-video app operators, are ramping up overseas expansion, Kenneth Fong, head of China internet research at the Swiss investment bank, said in a briefing in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Chinese technology companies have been putting an increased focus on foreign markets, as online shopping apps like Shein and Temu, both of Chinese origin, gain traction worldwide.

Temu – owned by Pinduoduo parent PDD Holdings and based in Boston – and Shein – founded in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing and headquartered in Singapore – were the two most-downloaded shopping apps on Apple’s US iOS store in the past 30 days, according to app analytics platform data.ai.

A Shein pop-up store in Ontario, California. Photo: Los Angeles Times/TNS
A Shein pop-up store in Ontario, California. Photo: Los Angeles Times/TNS

Selling competitively-priced products in the international market could give Chinese internet firms room to grow and boost their valuations, according to Fong.

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The import and export value of China’s cross-border e-commerce industry reached 2.38 trillion yuan (US$333 billion) in 2023, up 15.6 per cent from the previous year, according to preliminary estimates published by the State Council Information Office earlier this month.

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