(Yicai Global) Jan. 15 -- The US-based online auction giant eBay Inc. is to set up a cross-border e-commerce industrial park in Fuzhou in southeastern China's coastal Fujian province. It is the first dedicated industrial park set up by the company worldwide. It has also establish a subsidiary, the eBay Fujian company, in China (Fuzhou) Fujian Pilot Free Trade Zone.

The eBay Fujian company is eBay's first cooperation platform with China and is eBay's second branch company in the country following Shanghai. The eBay industrial park has a total planning area of 100,000 square meters. Its Phase I zone covers an area of 30,000 square meters, said an official of the Fujian Free Trade Zone. The park is equipped with several functional areas, including the product demonstration zone, third-party service (logistics and payment) center, cross-border e-commerce training center and entrepreneurship incubation center, the state Xinhua News Agency reported on Jan. 13.

The US online auction titan eBay [NASDAQ:EBAY] signed a business deal with the local governments of Fujian province and Fuzhou city last April. By building the industrial park, the company looks to introduce successful local enterprises and products with competitive edge into its e-commerce platform, and will help local businesses with transformation and upgrading, while the local governments will back talents cultivation and grant preferential policies.

"Fujian sellers have always been active on eBay and offering a rich variety of products with quality services. The landing of the industrial park showed our firm faith in the huge potential of cross-border e-commerce in Fujian. We hope we can work together with local government to bring more companies and products from Fujian on eBay, and further on help them reach more consumers across the globe," said John Lin, chief executive officer of eBay Greater China.

Fuzhou stands as a crucial port city along the southeastern coast of China, whose imports and exports amounted to CNY208.22 billion (USD32.3 billion) in 2016. Home to more than 300 cross-border e-commerce enterprises, Fuzhou witnessed imports and exports of 2,372 varieties of products which valued at CNY200 million.

"We hope to stimulate the potential and vitality of Fujian, which has always been a major province of export trade, and nurture a demonstrative policy environment and ecosystem for cross-border e-commerce industry in China, " said Liang Yong, deputy director of the Fujian Pilot Free Trade Zone.

eBay's global transaction volume hit USD87 billion in 2016. Its total gross merchandise volume for the second quarter of 2017 reached USD21.5 billion, a 3 percent year-on-year increase. In order to expand the Chinese market, the company has established a professional team to provide Chinese firms with services such as cross-border transaction verification, foreign trade training and business consultancy.