近日,深圳市跨境电商协会执行会长王馨女士接受CHINA DAILY-中国日报记者采访,针对区域全面经济伙伴关系协定(RCEP)的签署生效对跨境电商行业带来的影响发表了自己的观点和看法。
▲CHINA DAILY关于《RCEP to drive growth of cross-border e-commerce in China》的新闻报道截图
以下是CHINA DAILY报道原文(翻译版附后):
The expected implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement will usher in a new wave of growth for China's cross-border e-commerce sector, experts and business leaders said.
Signed in November last year among 15 Asia-Pacific economies including China and all the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the agreement will take effect on Jan 1 in 10 signatory members-namely Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
Wang Xin, executive president of the Shenzhen Cross-Border E-Commerce Association, said implementation of the RCEP agreement, which will be carried out first in the 10 countries and is expected to extend to all the 15 members in the future, will bring multiple opportunities to China's fast-growing cross-border e-commerce businesses.
"The RCEP covers both China and ASEAN, two of the most promising markets in the world whose populations are about 1.4 billion and 600 million, respectively. It is expected that more than 90 percent of trade in goods will enjoy zero tariffs in the RCEP region, providing a very favorable environment for trade and investment growth," Wang said.
Costs of regionally sourced raw materials for Chinese enterprises will be significantly reduced under the trade rules of the agreement, especially the common rules of origin that only require 40 percent of regional content for goods to be considered of RCEP origin, much lower than the threshold of other free trade agreements.
That also means the competitiveness of Chinese suppliers, which are already known for offering quality products at relatively cheap prices, will be further bolstered, creating opportunities for Chinese businesses to sell goods to overseas markets in the RCEP region, she said.
More importantly, as the agreement asked members to simplify Customs procedures and expand coverage of preferential tariff policies, efficiency of cross-border logistics will be effectively improved with costs largely reduced. This will benefit the growth of not only logistics enterprises but also overseas warehousing businesses and cross-border e-commerce firms, Wang said.
Experts said the RCEP agreement will facilitate Chinese cross-border e-commerce enterprises in expanding their presence in markets that currently impose relatively high tariffs on Chinese products.
Wei Jianguo, vice-chairman of the Beijing-based China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said the agreement has high-standard policies for e-commerce and other sectors. It will become easier for small and medium-sized enterprises, especially private enterprises, in China to go global, Wei said.
Wang said cross-border e-commerce has great growth potential in fields like electronic products, apparel and toys in the Pearl River Delta region, sports equipment, electrical products and home fabrics in the Yangtze River Delta region, and electronic equipment, biomedicines and auto parts in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
The growth potential is supported by traditional offline foreign trade, the fast development of Chinese e-commerce platforms and the push by the country's authorities for innovation-driven development.
Vincent Yang, CEO of JD Central, an e-commerce joint venture between Chinese e-commerce giant JD and Central Group, the largest retailer in Thailand, said implementation of the RCEP agreement promises a future of unified standards and procedures for trade in the region.
This will facilitate standardized management and local operations for businesses, create a better environment for the development of cross-border e-commerce businesses and also boost economic and trade cooperation.
Underpinned by the large population, fast economic growth and wide internet access, Southeast Asia has become a market of great potential for China's cross-border e-commerce enterprises. JD Central, which officially started operations on Sep 28,2018, registered fast growth in the past three years, Yang said.
The company established eight localized warehouses in Thailand. Thanks to that, it is able to deliver 95 percent of purchases in Bangkok within a day after customers place their orders and 85 percent of purchases in other parts of the country within two days. Last year, gross merchandise volume and orders on the platform increased by 170 percent and 82 percent from 2019, respectively.
Many Chinese brands, including Huawei, Hisense and TCL, have joined hands with JD Central to expand sales in Thailand, Yang said.
翻译版:
专家和商界领袖表示,区域全面经济伙伴关系协定(RCEP)的预期执行将为中国跨境电子商务领域迎来新一轮增长。
该协议于去年11月在包括中国在内的15个亚太经济体和东南亚国家联盟所有10个成员国中签署,将于1月1日在文莱、柬埔寨、老挝、新加坡、泰国、越南、中国、日本、新西兰和澳大利亚等10个签署国中生效。
深圳市跨境电子商务协会执行会长王馨表示,RCEP协议的执行在 10 个国家率先开展,并有望在未来扩展到所有15个成员国,将为中国快速增长的跨境电商业务带来多重机遇。
“RCEP覆盖中国和东盟,这两个世界上最有前途的市场,人口分别约14亿和6亿。预计RCEP地区90%以上的货物贸易将享受零关税利好,为贸易和投资增长提供了非常有利的环境。”王馨说。
根据协议的贸易规则,中国企业的区域性原材料成本将大幅降低,特别是共同原产地规则,只要求40%区域含量的货物就被认为是RCEP原产地,远低于其他自由贸易协定的门槛。
王馨认为,这也意味着中国供应商的竞争力将得到进一步增强,为中国企业向 RCEP地区的海外市场销售商品创造了机会,这些供应商已经以提供价格相对便宜的优质产品而闻名。
更重要的是,由于协议要求成员国简化海关手续,扩大关税优惠政策覆盖面,跨境物流效率将得到有效提高,成本大幅降低。这不仅有利于物流企业的成长,也有利于海外仓储业务和跨境电子商务公司的成长。
专家表示,RCEP协议将有利于中国跨境电商企业扩大目前仍对中国产品征收较高关税海外市场的布局。
北京的中国国际经济交流中心副主席魏建国表示,该协议对电子商务和其他行业有高标准的政策。“中国的中小企业特别是民营企业走出去将变得更加容易。”魏建国说。
王馨表示,跨境电商在电子产品等领域增长潜力巨大。珠三角地区以服装玩具为主;长三角地区以运动器材、电器产品和家用织物为主;京津冀地区以电子设备、生物医药和汽车零部件为主。
传统的线下外贸、中国电子商务平台的快速发展以及国家当局对创新驱动发展的推动支撑了跨境电商行业的增长潜力。
中国电子商务巨头JD和泰国最大零售商中央集团(Central Group)的电子商务合资公司JD Central的首席执行官杨文森(Vincent Yang)表示,RCEP协议的实施有望为该地区的贸易提供统一的标准和程序。
这将有利于企业的规范化管理和本地化经营,为跨境电子商务企业发展创造更好的环境,也有利于促进经贸合作。
在人口众多、经济快速增长和互联网广泛接入的支撑下,东南亚已成为中国跨境电子商务企业的巨大潜力市场。“JD Central于2018年9月28日正式开始运营,在过去三年里实现了快速增长。”杨文森表示。
京东在泰国建立了8个本地化仓库。由于这一点,它能够提供95%的采购在曼谷区域一天到货,客户的订单和85%的购买在泰国其他地区两天内到货。去年,平台上的商品总量和订单量较2019年分别增长了170%和82%。
杨文森说,包括华为、海信和TCL在内的许多中国品牌已经与JD Central联手扩大了在泰国的销售。