Focus on the Construction of the Information Harbor and Engage in Dialogues on the Development of E-commerce

written by Li Min / translated by Xu Yuemeng

Focus on the Construction of the Information Harbor and Engage in Dialogues on the Development of E-commerce

written by Li Min / translated by Xu Yuemeng

At present, the Internet is advancing the industrial transformation, and information resources have gradually become a crucial factor of production and social wealth, because of which international cooperation is inseparable with information exchanges and sharing. As the cooperation between China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has entered the “Diamond Decade”, strengthening information connectivity and sharing will inject new vigor into mutual cooperation.

During the 11th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO), the China-ASEAN Information Harbor – a new platform for China-ASEAN information cooperation – was born of necessity at a historical moment on September 18, 2014. The China-ASEAN Information Harbor Forum, a major forum during the 12th CAEXPO, was held in Nanning (China) from September 13th to 14th, 2015. Officials, experts, scholars and enterprise representatives from China and the ASEAN countries attended the forum, focusing on the building of the China-ASEAN Information Harbor and having in-depth discussions on such issues as cross-border e-commerce, fighting cyber crimes and flourishing cyber culture.

Cross-border e-commerce plays a leading role in the construction of the China-ASEAN Information Harbor, on the issue of which representatives attending the forum expressed their own opinions and appeals and offered invaluable suggestions, coming up with new ideas for building the information harbor and developing China-ASEAN cross-border e-commerce.

Find Opportunities in Rising to Challenges

The building of the information harbor helps to strengthen the connectivity of the China-ASEAN regional network, encourage countries to speed up cyber infrastructure construction and upgrade the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), providing a platform of cyber trade for producers, logistics suppliers and consumers in the area, creating consumption demands and promoting the development of cross-border e-commerce in the area.

At present, China’s e-commerce transaction maintains a growth rate of 30%, and the ASEAN countries are currently speeding up the Internet popularization. Prospects of China-ASEAN cross-border e-commerce market are bright because of the anticipation of hundreds of millions of netizens. Ms. Nyo Nyo Seint from Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Myanmar believes that the development of e-commerce benefits the building of the ASEAN Economic Community. Infrastructure construction, customs clearance, logistics and payment, however, remain the obstacles in the path of developing cross-border e-commerce for China and the ASEAN countries.

According to Mr. Lu Wei, Secretary General of the Internet Society of China, there are now six weak points in developing crossborder e-commerce: the first is language: all sides have different understandings of different products; the second is customs clearance: customs clearance procedures are complicated without universal standards, and clearance efficiency remains to be improved; the next is logistics duration: the shipping of goods usually takes more than half a month, and the shipping cost accounts for a large share of the production costs; the fourth is the security of payment: convenient payment and secure payment are equally important to sellers and buyers; the fifth is credit: fakes and counterfeit goods still exist; and the last is customer service: there are such problems as whether the buyers in different places are entitled to uniform standards of customer service.

These problems are also the challenges that China and the ASEAN countries must rise to in developing cross-border e-commerce, which concerns the momentum for the growth of foreign trade and the interests of consumers as well. If the obstacles are overcome, cross-border e-commerce will bring more opportunities for the development of regional trade and more real benefits to consumers.

Take Actions to Seize Opportunities

As cross-border e-commerce involves different countries that have various demands and different national conditions, problems that need to be taken into consideration in the development of e-commerce will be more complex. Opportunities are always left for those who are well prepared. In order to seize the opportunity for developing the world’s crossborder e-commerce, China and the ASEAN countries should pursue the common aim of economic growth, seek common ground while reserving differences, build consensus, take actions to make overall arrangements, focus on key areas and seek a breakthrough in developing China-ASEAN cross-border e-commerce.

At the China-ASEAN Information Harbor Forum held against the background of the 12th CAEXPO, the officials, experts, scholars and enterprise representatives from China and the ASEAN countries analyzed the current situation of developing China-ASEAN crossborder e-commerce and stated their opinions on the major problems. The suggestions and opinions that reflect collective wisdom are of importance in guiding the construction of the China-ASEAN Information Harbor and the development of China-ASEAN cross-border e-commerce.

Mr. Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa, President of Ascend Group of Thailand, believes that public administration departments, enterprises and non-governmental institutions should make joint efforts and coordination in order to resolve the problems confronting crossborder e-commerce. He pointed out that with respect to infrastructure construction, for instance, improvement of transportation infrastructure has great significance in establishing the logistics system for crossborder e-commerce, which is in need of a push given by the government departments and a primary guarantee of hardware conditions.

“Bilateral internet connectivity is of vital importance in achieving information connectivity. As having access to China’s optical fiber broadband is now rather expensive, we hope that the State Internet Information Office of China could provide opportunities for having talks and negotiations with China’s operators so that the two sides could offer competitive prices, enabling us to achieve better integration,” said Mr. Sy Meta, CEO of SI Group Co., LTD. of Cambodia.

The China-ASEAN Information Harbor Forum unveiled the plaque for the China-ASEAN Information Harbor base. The core base of the China-ASEAN Information Harbor will be constructed in the Five Elephants New District of Nanning, comprising a headquarter base and industrial projects. There are 34 projects currently selected as the key projects of the core base, with investment of about 20.9 billion yuan (US$3.28 billion). The establishment of the core base of the China-ASEAN Information Harbor (Nanning) constitutes an earnest endeavor made by the Public Administration Department of China to push forward the building of the China-ASEAN Information Harbor, strengthen information infrastructure construction and promote the development of China-ASEAN cross-border e-commerce.

With regard to customs clearance, Mr. Ma Jixian, Deputy Director General of Commerce Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, gave an introduction to Guangxi’s active attempts in customs clearance on the basis of its role as a bridgehead of China-ASEAN cooperation. “Guangxi has adopted a series of preferential policies in customs clearance facilitation, inspections and foreign exchange payments. Chinese government gave Guangxi the permission to first implement the policies of ‘Two Countries, One Inspection’and ‘unilateral opening’, starting from Vietnam and Malaysia.” Extensive exploration is being carried out in the Guangxi Pingxiang Integrated Free Trade Zone and Guangxi Qinzhou Free Trade Port Area, the pilot areas for the trials of“Two Countries, One Inspection”.

As a representative of enterprises, Mr. You Jian of SunEee expressed his opinions on customs clearance facilitation from the perspective of enterprises. According to You Jian, crossborder e-commerce actually involves a batch of small and medium-sized enterprises, which need to devote considerable energy into solving such problems in cross-border e-commerce as customs clearance, foreign exchange settlements and inspections. A number of small and medium-sized enterprises, however, are incapable of dealing with these problems. We have forged a platform for serving China-ASEAN e-commerce enterprises for the sake of the enterprises, taking all the orders from China and the ASEAN countries and integrating with the payment platform of the third parties. Orders will be processed via electronic systems, which will substantially enhance the efficiency of review and approval.

In regard to payment, China and the ASEAN countries have independent payment platforms, among which credit information sharing and standard integration have not been set up. This leads to the inconvenience of cross-border e-commerce payment and low safety factors. According to Mr. Shi Dongwei, Vice President of Alibaba Group of China, after 16 years of development and statistics accumulation, Alibaba has established a comprehensive system of e-commerce payment and social credit, and Sesame Credit is Alibaba’s latest credit certificate product, which will release greater potential in credit authentication and payment in the future.

“Why not establish a payment system of the entire region and a single payment platform? We are able to find a universal mode of payment for China and the ASEAN countries, or we may integrate the present modes. I am not saying that China’s Alipay is the only form of payment, but Alipay could be such a platform,” said Mr. Sy Meta.

As payment involves currencies of different countries, using a unified currency for settlement is gradually becoming an issue that all sides are concerned about. According to Ma Jixian, with respect to financial payment, the Chinese government entitled Guangxi to carry out the comprehensive financial services reform along the border. In the first half of 2015, RMB surpassed US dollars for the first time, becoming the No.1 settlement currency for Guangxi’s cross-border settlement and payment. RMB’s position of the currency for settlement has continuously been raised.

In addition, the government may provide China-ASEAN cross-border e-commerce industry with more support in terms of policies and funds and attach importance to the cultivation of talents. Enterprises should actively act on their own initiatives in the market, expand e-commerce trade between the two sides, extend from goods to cultural products and integrate the logistics enterprises scattered in the region, which will lower the costs of logistics. Opportunities for the development of China-ASEAN e-commerce will arise when governments and enterprises work together and take actions by taking advantage of the construction of the China-ASEAN Information Harbor.