Cross-border e-commerce is becoming a new trend in international trade. According to customs statistics, in 2020, China's cross-border e-commerce import and export volume reached 1.69 trillion yuan, an increase of 31.1%, of which exports increased by 40.1% and imports increased by 16.5%, far exceeding the growth rate of national foreign trade. In the past five years, the scale of cross-border e-commerce import and export has increased nearly tenfold. Promoting the development of cross-border e-commerce is conducive to promoting the transformation and upgrading of China's foreign trade and enhancing its competitiveness.

A recent State Council executive meeting determined measures to accelerate the development of new formats and models in foreign trade, proposing to improve support policies for cross-border e-commerce, including expanding the pilot scope of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones; optimizing the list of cross-border e-commerce retail import goods; facilitating the management of import and export returns and exchanges for cross-border e-commerce; and formulating a guideline for intellectual property protection in cross-border e-commerce to prevent counterfeit and shoddy goods.

Expanding the pilot scope of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones is a natural progression. After five expansions, China now has 105 cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones. Since the pilot program, various pilot zones have actively explored ways to improve the efficiency of cross-border e-commerce customs clearance, build online trading platforms, improve the cross-border e-commerce logistics system, include cities with qualified comprehensive pilot zones in the pilot program for cross-border e-commerce retail imports, introduce tax support policies for cross-border e-commerce retail export goods within comprehensive pilot zones, and improve risk prevention and control systems. This has created the conditions for broader replication and promotion. At the same time, China's consumption scale is continuously expanding, and its consumption structure is rapidly upgrading, leading to strong demand for high-quality imported products. A large number of high-quality export products are deeply loved by the international market. The desire to "buy and sell globally without leaving the country" is strong, further expanding the pilot scope of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones to cover more cities and regions meets the needs of social and economic development.

Optimizing the list of cross-border e-commerce retail import goods is imperative. Since the release of the "List of Cross-border E-commerce Retail Import Goods" in 2016, China has implemented list management for cross-border e-commerce retail import goods. Goods on the list are managed as personal import items for personal use and enjoy tax preferential policies. The upper limit of the quantity of goods has been continuously raised, and the scope of the list has been expanded. In 2020, the list of cross-border e-commerce retail import goods involved 1413 coded commodities. In recent years, the scale of cross-border e-commerce retail imports in China has continued to expand, exceeding 100 billion yuan in 2020. Further optimizing the list of cross-border e-commerce retail import goods, in line with the trend of consumption upgrades, and increasing imports of high-quality foreign consumer goods, is conducive to promoting the development of new formats of cross-border e-commerce and better meeting the needs of consumers.

Strengthening intellectual property protection for cross-border e-commerce is imminent. With the development of cross-border e-commerce, intellectual property disputes are increasing. Due to differences in national laws, the degree of intellectual property protection for cross-border e-commerce varies. Cross-border e-commerce involves multiple parties, including manufacturers, consumers, logistics companies, and e-commerce platforms, making it unclear who is responsible. Handling cross-border e-commerce intellectual property disputes is difficult. Formulating guidelines for the protection of intellectual property rights in cross-border e-commerce, clarifying the responsibilities of various parties, and improving the mechanism for protecting intellectual property rights in cross-border e-commerce are crucial for the healthy development of cross-border e-commerce.

Improving customer experience is essential for the sustainable development of cross-border e-commerce. Encouraging the construction of overseas warehouses and improving the digitalization and intelligence level of overseas warehouses, as well as improving the layout of overseas warehouses, can not only drive more companies to expand into international markets but also improve logistics efficiency, shorten cross-border shopping time, and improve the consumer experience of using cross-border e-commerce for shopping. Preventing counterfeit and shoddy goods from entering the market through cross-border e-commerce import and export, and improving the management system for import and export returns and exchanges for cross-border e-commerce to facilitate returns and exchanges, can help reduce consumer transaction costs and improve consumer satisfaction.