01

The current development status of cross-border e-commerce industry in Yiwu

Relying on 2.1 million kinds of commodity resources and a well-developed logistics system, Yiwu Market has become an important base for cross-border e-commerce in China and is truly a "city of e-commerce".

Over the past decade or so, Yiwu has taken innovation as the driving force to promote the digital transformation of its market trade. Overall, the development of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu can mainly be divided into four stages

1.0 Initial stage: E-commerce market transformation, with both offline and online markets running in parallel

In 2011, Yiwu was approved for the "Overall Plan for the Comprehensive Reform Pilot of International Trade in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province", becoming the first county-level city in China to be approved as a comprehensive reform pilot by The State Council. This laid a foundation for the development of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu. In 2013, Yiwu proposed the development strategy of "e-commerce replacing the city". In the same year, the retail sales of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu exceeded 10 billion yuan for the first time, accounting for approximately one-tenth of the total traditional foreign trade exports of Yiwu. The Yiwu market has entered a stage where both offline and online channels operate in parallel.

2.0 Growth Stage: Service support becomes increasingly mature and complete

In 2018, Yiwu was selected as one of the third batch of national cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones. Yiwu's cross-border e-commerce has entered a stage of rapid growth and has been making continuous efforts in five aspects: "subject cultivation, brand promotion, development space, fulfillment channels, and atmosphere creation", building a complete service system and actively expanding the market. In 2019, the transaction volume of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu reached 75.398 billion yuan, increasing by 15.16% year-on-year.

Image source of Yiwu Comprehensive Bonded Zone: Yiwu Release

3.0 Mature Stage: The Chinagoods platform was launched, with multiple models coexisting

In 2020, Yiwu Market launched the Chinagoods International Trade Comprehensive Service Platform, digitally reconstructing the market trade service ecosystem centered on Chinagoods and integrating physical markets, third-party platforms, industrial bases, and trade entities, providing services such as display and trading, warehousing and logistics, and financial payment. And one-stop services such as customs clearance, foreign exchange settlement and tax refund. Cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu is showing a diversified development trend, with multiple models such as B2B and B2C coexisting. In 2021, cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu witnessed explosive growth, with the annual transaction volume exceeding 100 billion yuan.

The official Chinagoods platform image source: Yiwu Index

4.0 Intelligent Stage: AI-driven, intelligent development of trade processes

In 2023, Yiwu released the world's first large language model in the field of commodity trade and the newly upgraded Chinagoods AI intelligent innovation service platform. Yiwu Market, with the Chinagoods platform as its core carrier, promotes the application of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, cloud storage, intelligent computing power, and cross-border access, empowering the entire scene and process of cross-border e-commerce, and driving the high-quality development of cross-border e-commerce with artificial intelligence. In 2024, the state vigorously promoted digital trade reform, and Yiwu became one of the pilot cities. In the same year, the transaction volume of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu exceeded 140 billion yuan, accounting for more than 24% of the city's total foreign trade exports.

Image source: Yiwu Index. Chinagoods AI Intelligent Innovation Service Platform

Yiwu, renowned globally as the "Capital of Small Commodities", boasts a vast offline industrial cluster and serves as a significant gathering and demonstration area for "cross-border e-commerce + industrial belts". It holds a pivotal position in the national cross-border export business. After more than ten years of development, cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu has presented the following major characteristics:

The transaction volume has been steadily increasing. In 2024, the transaction volume of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu exceeded 140 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 15.63%. In the first half of 2025, the transaction volume of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu reached 89.961 billion yuan, increasing by 17.92% year-on-year. In recent years, the transaction volume of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu has continued to expand, and the growth rate has remained at a high level for a long time.

Cross-border e-commerce entities are gathering. There are a large number of cross-border e-commerce entities in Yiwu, and the dominant models are small and micro merchants and multi-platform operations. As of May 2025, there were over 746,300 e-commerce business entities in Yiwu, among which more than 40% were engaged in cross-border e-commerce business. Meanwhile, Yiwu also has nearly 1,000 cross-border logistics enterprises, among which a number of enterprises have become logistics service providers and designated carriers for multiple cross-border e-commerce platforms.

Emerging markets are accelerating their rise. The diversification process of Yiwu's cross-border e-commerce export markets is accelerating. Besides Europe and America, emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East are rising rapidly, and the countries jointly built along the "Belt and Road" have become important growth poles. Among the top ten countries for Yiwu's foreign trade exports in 2024, countries and regions such as the Middle East and South America accounted for more than half. The import and export volume with the countries jointly built along the Belt and Road Initiative reached 413.34 billion yuan, accounting for 61.8% of Yiwu's total import and export value.

Image source: Yiwu Media Convergence

02

The upstream and downstream ecosystem of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu

The development model of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu is vividly referred to as the "army of ants", mainly because it is dominated by small and micro merchants and multi-platform operations, forming a vast and dynamic e-commerce ecosystem.

Merchants with certain strength in Yiwu usually have strong supply chain management capabilities, can respond quickly to market changes, and provide high-quality products and services. Powerful manufacturers, on the other hand, rely on their production capacity and technological innovation to offer competitive products. The success of merchants and manufacturers not only depends on their business capabilities, but also benefits from the support and policy guidance of the Yiwu government, as well as the well-developed logistics and trade service system of the Yiwu market.

According to the research data of Yiwu Index, among the merchants sampled and surveyed in the International Trade City, approximately 25% of them are engaged in cross-border e-commerce business. From the perspective of the proportion of cross-border e-commerce business sales to total sales, the majority are concentrated between 5% and 20%, and about 5% of merchants have a sales share exceeding 40%.

The proportion of merchants in the International trade city who are engaged in cross-border e-commerce business

Data source: Yiwu Index

www.ywindex.com

The downstream purchasers of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu mainly present the following characteristics:

The geographical distribution is extensive: Yiwu cross-border e-commerce purchasers are spread across many countries and regions around the world, including Europe, America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, etc. Among them, Europe and America have always been the traditional consumer markets for Yiwu's goods, with a high demand for various daily necessities, household items, clothing and other goods. In recent years, the consumption potential of emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East has been continuously unleashed, and the small commodities that offer good value for money in Yiwu have also demonstrated strong purchasing power.

Image source: Yiwu Index. Home goods shops in Yiwu International Trade City

Attention to product quality and price: When choosing Yiwu goods, purchasers not only pay attention to the quality of the goods to ensure their competitiveness in the market, but also generally are sensitive to the price, hoping to obtain goods with cost advantages so as to gain a larger profit margin in sales. Therefore, products with high cost performance are more favored by purchasers in the Yiwu cross-border e-commerce market.

The image source of the shops in Yiwu International Trade City: Yiwu Index

Requirements for supply chain stability: To ensure the stable operation of their own business, purchasers need a stable and reliable supply chain support. By establishing long-term cooperative relationships with merchants in Yiwu, they can ensure that the supply of goods is completed on time, with quality and in the required quantity.

Image source: Yiwu Index

Sensitivity to market trends: Outstanding purchasers usually have a high sensitivity to market trends, being able to promptly capture changes in consumer demands and market trends. Based on this information, they will search for potential products in Yiwu for procurement and make early market plans.

With the acceleration of the digitalization process of global trade, the cross-border e-commerce industry in Yiwu has shown a multi-dimensional development trend, among which cross-border e-commerce platforms play a key supporting role. At present, these platforms can mainly be divided into two major categories.

The first one is the international mainstream platforms, including Amazon, AliExpress, TEMU, SHEIN, TikTok Shop and Lazada, which has considerable influence in the Southeast Asian market. These platforms leverage their respective strengths, such as Amazon's brand effect and business ecosystem construction, AliExpress's user base and resource integration capabilities, TEMU's marketing innovation, SHEIN's positioning of fashion products, TikTok Shop's social traffic conversion, and Lazada's in-depth market cultivation in Southeast Asia. It has opened up multiple channels for Yiwu cross-border e-commerce enterprises to reach the global market, effectively promoting the circulation of Yiwu goods on an international scale.

The proportion of major cross-border e-commerce platforms operated by merchants in the International Trade City

Data source: Yiwu Index

www.ywindex.com

The second type is the platforms that have grown up in Yiwu, including Chinagoods and Egatee, which targets the African market. Based on the local resource advantages and market characteristics of Yiwu, these platforms have built a business model with local characteristics and regional targeting for Yiwu's cross-border e-commerce from aspects such as local market resource integration and targeted expansion in specific regional markets. At the same time, they have also provided an important guarantee for its overall stable development.

03

The future development trend of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu

The future development of the cross-border e-commerce industry in Yiwu presents multiple trends, mainly including diversified market layout and the application of artificial intelligence.

Yiwu, as an important hub for global small commodity trade, has considerable influence and a unique layout in the field of international trade. Its trade network has extended to over 220 countries and regions around the world, making it a key node in global commodity circulation. However, traditional cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu mainly targets Europe and America. In recent years, with the continuous changes in the global trade environment, the diversified market layout has become the main trend in the development of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu, transforming from being dominated by the European and American markets to a balanced layout in the global market. Cross-border e-commerce platforms such as AliExpress and TEMU have closely collaborated with enterprises in Yiwu to jointly explore new models and paths for the development of cross-border e-commerce, leveraging their advantages in emerging markets and the wholesale sector.

In recent years, the volume and proportion of imports and exports between Yiwu and the countries along the Belt and Road Initiative have been continuously rising. In the first half of 2025, Yiwu's import and export volume with the countries along the Belt and Road Initiative reached 273.82 billion yuan, increasing by 26.9%, and its proportion of the city's total import and export value during the same period rose to 67.5%. From the perspective of cross-border e-commerce transaction volume, according to incomplete statistics, the region with the fastest growth in Yiwu's cross-border e-commerce exports is Southeast Asia. Compared with 2021, it will increase by more than 40% in 2024, accounting for over 12% of the total cross-border e-commerce exports. Brazil and Mexico followed closely behind, with growth rates both exceeding 40%.

The first stop of the Yiwu Fair's overseas exhibition is the Jakarta International Exhibition Center in Indonesia
Image source: Internet

The deep integration of AI and digital technology will reshape the business landscape of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu. In the future, "AI+" will drive the high-quality development of cross-border e-commerce in Yiwu. With the continuous penetration of artificial intelligence technology, the development of cross-border e-commerce mainly presents the following characteristics:

The "AI+ big data-driven" approach analyzes and predicts massive amounts of data, achieving value creation centered on users and transitioning from "product-oriented" to "demand resonance".

The optimization of the warehousing and logistics operation mode driven by "AI+ Internet of Things" has transformed the traditional mode of "people looking for goods" into an intelligent mode of "goods to people", significantly improving the logistics efficiency.

The "AI+ blockchain-driven" approach enables full traceability of goods from raw materials to the terminal, building a trusted trade network.

"AI+AR/VR technology-driven" to achieve the integration of virtual and real, enhancing the procurement experience.