A total of 33 cities and prefectures have been approved to set up their comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce, which included the cities of Nanping and Ningde of the Fujian Province. This was according to an official statement (the written reply of the State Council on agreeing to the establishment of comprehensive cross-border e-commerce pilot zones in 33 cities and regions, including Langfang), recently published by the State Council.

China set up its first comprehensive pilot zone for cross-border e-commerce in 2015 and has since then expanded approval in batches for a number of other cities and prefectures to set up their own. As of today, the number of China’s comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce has surpassed 100. Previously, Fujian had six cities (i.e., Xiamen, Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Putian, and Longyan) that successively obtained this approval. Now, with the addition of Nanping and Ningde as approved cities, Fujian’s comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce have increased to eight.

Currently, Fujian has developed several e-commerce industry clusters with distinct characteristics that cover, among others, apparel, bags, and suitcases, ceramics and artware, building supplies, fixtures, and fittings, as well as food and agricultural produce. Moreover, it has built more than 150 vertical e-commerce platforms and online trading markets.

The China（Fujian）Pilot Free Trade Zone boasts several comprehensive cross-border e-commerce service platforms, cross-border e-commerce parks, and exhibition and trading centers that are now in operation, as they have been approved and included in the preferential “9610 duty-free without ticket” policy and “1210 bonded stock” policy. It is also where a number of leading enterprises are based, including eBay, Cainiao, Kaola, Amazon’s regional office, Orange Connex, YUGUO, and Huaqiang, with the zone’s number of cross-border e-commerce enterprises increasing by an average of 50% annually.

According to the China Cross-Border E-Commerce Development Index Report (2021), Fujian ranked 7th in the comprehensive development of cross-border e-commerce and 3rd in the size of its economy. In 2021, the province’s number of cross-border e-commerce sellers and their combined total sales volume remained in third place in the country.