China expands pilot zones for promoting cross-border e-commerce

BEIJING -- China has approved the establishment of comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce in another 33 cities and regions, in its latest bid to boost foreign trade growth.

This is the seventh batch of such pilot areas, which lifted the tally to 165 across the country.

Many of the latest batch of comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce are located in central and western China as well as the country's border areas.

The pilot zones are expected to help facilitate the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and optimize and upgrade foreign trade.

China's cross-border e-commerce has been growing fast in recent years. Its trade volume has ballooned by nearly 10 times in the past five years, reaching 1.92 trillion yuan (about $269.14 billion) in 2021. In the first half of 2022, the market registered a 28.6-percent year-on-year growth in trade volume.