Cross-border e-commerce is a new global phenomenon. China is taking a lead in this area, as indicated by its trillion-yuan imports in cross-border e-commerce.

A report issued by China E-Commerce Research Center on August 1 says that China's cross-border e-commerce imports reached 1.2 trillion yuan ($180 billion) in 2016, up by 33.3 percent year on year, while the total volume of imports increased by only 0.6 percent. The report also predicts that China's cross-border e-commerce imports will rise to 1.85 trillion yuan ($276.8 billion) this year, up by 54.5 percent over 2016.

This increase is largely attributed to support from the Chinese Government.

In 2013, a string of favorable policies were issued to promote the development of the Internet Plus strategy, including increasing Internet-related infrastructure as well as facilitating faster and more affordable Internet connections. By 2016, 730 million people had got Internet access, accounting for 53.2 percent of the nation's population. Booming online shopping platforms and the express delivery sector have made shopping more convenient.

The launch of the website Ymatou.com in 2009 is regarded as the starting point of China's cross-border e-commerce platforms. At the start, this new transaction model did not pay taxes or fall under the supervision of industrial and commercial authorities due to its newness, but the government did not prohibit the model. Instead, it adopted a tolerant and supportive attitude. Cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Tmall Global and JD Worldwide have mushroomed since then. The government subsequently issued policies to facilitate customs clearance in 2013 and lowered duties for certain imported goods in 2015.

The government has also shown tolerance toward cross-border online payments. Cross-border e-commerce transactions largely rely on third-party payment platforms. This payment model was not under China's foreign exchange supervision system at the beginning but the trillion-yuan cross-border shopping payments in 2016 did not encounter any policy impediment.

Soaring e-commerce imports have attracted attention from international retailing giants. In April, European supermarket chain Aldi announced it would join Tmall Global, while Wal-Mart's UK retail brand Asda opened its official flagship store on JD Worldwide.

However, there have been problems related to cross-border e-commerce imports. For example, in response to consumers' complaints, the Henan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau conducted a sample survey on children's goods imported through cross-border e-commerce channels in the first half of 2017. The results showed that of 20 batches of toys and children's garments, only two batches met Chinese standards. The Jiangsu Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau conducted a random survey on 40 batches of imported commodities. Of those, eight batches failed to meet the safety, sanitary and environmental protection standards, six batches of toys did not have the China Compulsory Certification, and 23 batches had problems with their labels. All this paints a worrying picture of the quality of goods imported through cross-border e-commerce channels.

China is to impose supervision on cross-border e-commerce retail imports from January 1, 2018. This is expected to further standardize and push forward the cross-border e-commerce sector.