E-commerce workshop emphasizes necessity of MSEs

Micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises' full participation in cross-border e-commerce is significant to employment and global trade as well as long-term post-pandemic economic recovery, according to government officials, business leaders and experts who spoke at the second APEC Cross-Border E-Commerce Training Workshop on Wednesday in Beijing.

Sessions of the workshop are scheduled for Sept 8, 15 and 22, covering topics like digital trade development, technology transformation of cross-border commerce and reconnection of the global supply chain amid the pandemic. It is endorsed by the department of international trade and economic affairs of China's Ministry of Commerce, and supported by DHgate, a Chinese cross-border business-to-business e-commerce platform.

The workshop provides government officials with ideas and inspiration for digital economy construction, public policy planning, and digital trade transformation, as well as an update on best practices.

"China is the world's largest e-commerce market, and cross-border e-commerce is also a pillar for China's foreign trade," said Yu Benlin, director-general of the department of international trade and economic affairs at the Ministry of Commerce.

"China has long been committed to fostering a favorable policy environment for MSMEs to embrace the digital economy, realize digital transformation, upgrade traditional foreign trade and boost bilateral and multilateral cross-border e-commerce and digital trade cooperation," he said.

Diane Wang, founder, chairperson and CEO of DHgate, said over 60 percent of global GDP would be digitized by 2022, and MSMEs now long for targeted supports to utilize digital tools, weather the crisis and achieve inclusive growth amid the global digital transformation.

Supporting MSMEs is not an easy job, Wang said, adding i t requires strong collaboration between public and private sectors including governments and business leaders, and other multilateral organizations including the UN and WTO.

Wang Huimin, deputy director of the Credit Institute under the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said more and more traditional small, medium and micro manufacturing and foreign trade companies now resort to cross-border e-commerce as an important channel to operate in international trade, and continuously strengthen their digital capabilities to enhance product research and development and speed up upgrades.

New business forms and models in foreign trade have reduced barriers and costs for MSMEs to operate, and better digitalization among enterprises against the background of the pandemic is important for supply chain flexibility and security, she said.

Cross-border e-commerce digitalization is speeding up in the wake of the pandemic. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the global cross-border e-commerce industry 2020 saw a year-on-year rise of 20 percent.