Shenzhen Business Daily • Reading Client Reporter Chen Shu
"We look forward to getting more 2B orders this year," said Li Zhaoyang, an inflatable mattress trader in Huizhou who participated in the 136th China Import and Export Fair (hereinafter referred to as the "Canton Fair") as a cross-border e-commerce company this year, he told reporters on October 14. From October 15th to November 4th, the Canton Fair was held in three phases in Guangzhou. The day before the opening of the conference, Deloitte and Ant International's one-stop digital payment and financial services platform Wanlihui released the 2024 New Landscape of Digital Trade Report (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), saying that cross-border trade in the Asia-Pacific region continued to develop at a high rate. "Asia-Pacific" micro-multinationals are taking a key leap forward with digital technology to become "cross-border little giants" in various industries.
The strength of "micro-MULTINATIONALS" is extraordinary
Li Zhaoyang is a typical "second generation of the factory", 20 years ago, his father sold mattresses to Walmart supermarkets in North America through the Canton Fair. Today, Li Zhaoyang has participated in the Canton Fair again through Amazon, Wayfair, Temu and other global e-commerce platforms and self-built independent stations, selling his own brand inflatable mattress with a number of patents from a single North American market to nearly 10 markets.
Deloitte China Technology Industry Leader Frank Tse pointed out that digital trading companies are building new business models and value chains with the help of advanced digital technologies such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing. With the improvement of cross-border e-commerce infrastructure and ecosystem, "micro-multinational enterprises" have achieved significant improvement in product competitiveness and user base, and they are gradually transforming into "cross-border small giant enterprises" through diversified, branded and refined platform and market strategies. The average size of the "cross-border little giant" is 100-200 people, and they are deeply engaged in the subdivision track, which can fully tap the potential of the category and have a high reputation and influence in the industry.
In the first half of 2024, the overall transaction volume of "micro multinational enterprises" in RCEP countries and regions increased by 190% year-on-year, the report said. According to the report, in recent years, major cross-border e-commerce platforms have continued to expand their service scope, launched diversified service models, and actively adjusted their investment promotion policies, so that more "micro multinational enterprises" can achieve rapid growth, and their product strength and user volume have been greatly improved, gradually moving towards "cross-border small giants".
Small orders have become a market trend
According to customs data released on the 14th, in the first three quarters of this year, the mainland's import and export of goods was 32.33 trillion yuan. In the first three quarters, imports and exports exceeded 10 trillion yuan in each quarter, which was also the first time in the same period in history. In the first three quarters, mainland exports to traditional markets such as Europe, the United States and Japan increased by 4.2 percent, and exports to emerging markets such as ASEAN and Latin America increased by 12.3 percent and 13.7 percent respectively.
As the "power source" and "locomotive" of economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, China's share of intermediate goods trade in the Asia-Pacific region has been increasing in recent years. According to the report, in 2023, Asia-Pacific merchandise import and export trade will account for about 40% of global trade, with a scale of nearly 18 trillion US dollars; In 2024, this figure is expected to grow to $18.5 trillion, an increase of 5.1%.
"The Canton Fair is still very important for cross-border e-commerce, and we look forward to getting more 2B orders this year, even if there are small orders." Li Zhaoyang said that now small orders have become a market trend. "Don't look at the first batch of small orders with only a few dozen pieces, as long as we have good Made in China, we can turn new customers into old customers, and we will have the opportunity to attract large orders." In the first half of 2024, the "micro multinational enterprises" that export small commodities and fragmented orders on Wanlihui will increase their trading volume in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America by more than 100% year-on-year.
Driven by the growth of brand power and production
At present, the industry dividends are gradually receding, and the competition is shifting from increment to stock, and "micro multinational enterprises" are also aware that brand power, channel power and operation power have become an important opportunity to break the competitive pattern. In the survey, a quarter of the respondents said that product branding and quality will be the main growth drivers in the future.
Wanlihui data shows that in the first half of 2024, the number of Chinese merchants going overseas to expand their business increased by 76% year-on-year. Cross-border e-commerce can build an independent website online, so that enterprises can carry out brand promotion and payment testing, cultivate private domain traffic and transactions, and thus consolidate the brand foundation. According to relevant data from Wanlihui, the number of sellers who will switch to branding in 2024 will surge by 138% year-on-year.
Shi Wenyi, CEO of Wanlihui, believes that in the digital trade track, the competition in terms of professionalism, product power, brand power, innovation and other comprehensive capabilities will become increasingly fierce. In the process of growing up as a "cross-border little giant", Wanlihui not only helps them achieve "one account, global receipt and payment", but also gathers more than 130 core ecological service providers to form a cluster effect, helping export enterprises to achieve business growth and quickly seize the ever-changing global digital trade business opportunities.
Let global buyers integrate into the Canton Fair
The Canton Fair provides full-chain trade services for exhibitors, and has now allowed global buyers and sellers to trade and negotiate with the Canton Fair both offline and online. "With the increase in the number of overseas buyers and the participation of more small, medium and micro enterprises, the Canton Fair will put forward higher requirements for the timeliness, security and performance ability of payments, including how to reduce the risk of cross-border transactions of 'small amounts', 'high frequency' and 'anytime, anywhere'." Chen Lan also put forward the relevant challenges that the Canton Fair will face in its development.
Shi Wenyi revealed that Wanlihui showed the "Pay into China" payment solution to global merchants at the Canton Fair to facilitate cross-border direct procurement by overseas buyers; At the same time, for foreign trade B2B enterprises, WorldTrade has launched the global trade order payment and transaction guarantee service, which is convenient for global merchants to place orders efficiently and intelligently fulfill contracts at the Canton Fair, manage the order transaction process online, effectively improve payment efficiency, and use risk control technology to ensure transaction security.
"Our main task this year is to help global buyers integrate into the Canton Fair," Shi Wenyi said in an interview, which includes opening global accounts online in real time to make payments to Chinese sellers more conveniently and efficiently. "Mature markets have a certain understanding, but there will be differences in the exchange rate in emerging countries, for example, emerging countries foreign exchange fluctuations, do a transaction, when collecting money found that due to exchange rate fluctuations have become a loss-making transaction, we help customers use the foreign exchange lock function, etc., to lock in profits, to avoid foreign exchange losses. Helping buyers pay better is helping sellers collect money better. ”