(Yicai Global) March 27 -- Online sales of goods delivered abroad will likely continue to rise despite slower growth in recent three years, because the current policy environment is friendly for development, industry insiders said to Yicai Global. 

Chinese vendors of goods sold online are expecting flat performance this year as overseas sales ebbed last year amid global inflation and sluggish economic growth.

Last year, cross-border imports and exports of goods sold online increased by 9.8 percent to CNY2.1 trillion (USD305.2 billion) from 2021, according to customs data. In 2021, the annual pace of growth was 18 percent and in 2020, it was as high as 31.1 percent. 

Consumption in overseas markets, including Western countries, was weak in the first quarter, so China’s cross-border e-commerce will continue to expand steadily but not at a high speed this year, Zhang Zhouping, senior analyst at an e-commerce research center of digital economy website 100EC, told Yicai Global.

Tan Jiaxing, who has been running cross-border e-commerce business for six years, has been seizing new opportunities by developing UV lamps for disinfection and logged CNY90 million (USD13.1 million) in sales in 2020, Yicai Global learned.

But overseas demand was weak in 2021. American e-commerce giant Amazon.Com closed thousands of accounts of Chinese sellers while foreign countries exited Covid-19 restrictions, and new rivals entered the market, according to Tan. In the two years ended 2022, his firm recorded around CNY100 million (USD14.5 million) in sales while this year, sales are not expected to be better.

Zhang Xiaojin started his own cross-border e-commerce business two years ago. Last year, the firm posted CNY20 million in revenue and aims to maintain the same level this year. It is double more difficult to unveil new products for cross-border e-commerce vendors.

Now as the competition has become more fierce, the overseas market has become less friendly, and trade barriers have increased, it makes sense to focus on one type of products to ensure quality instead of making many and being a master of none, Tan added.

Traditional Chinese brands have hiked their efforts to go overseas, expanding the overall market size and development space, Zhang Zhouping said. Besides Europe and the United States, the Southeast Asian market is also developing rapidly, introducing more opportunities for exporters, he added.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi