Six Ministries Including Ministry of Commerce Issue Guidelines: Strong Support for Overseas Warehouses and Formulating Compliance Guidelines for Going Global

Recently, the Ministry of Commerce, together with five other departments including the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, jointly issued the 'Guiding Opinions on Better Serving the Real Economy and Promoting High-Quality Development of E-commerce' (hereinafter referred to as the 'Opinions').

The 'Opinions' propose 16 specific measures centered on building a framework system for the high-quality development of e-commerce, including: assisting SMEs in transformation, deepening rural e-commerce, cultivating industrial e-commerce, accelerating technological innovation and application, vigorously developing quality consumption, actively creating integrated platforms, promoting cross-border e-commerce, expanding 'Silk Road E-commerce,' accelerating institutional opening, promoting regulatory alignment, strengthening platform accountability, enhancing routine supervision, guiding compliant overseas expansion, optimizing financial product supply, activating the value of data elements, and strengthening targeted talent cultivation.

Among these '16 measures,' those closely related to cross-border e-commerce export enterprises include logistics model innovation and compliance system improvement, each with clear policy directions. Specifically:

The 'Opinions' propose under the 'Promoting Cross-Border E-commerce' measure: promoting the high-quality development of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, and organizing these zones to carry out special actions such as brand cultivation, rule and standard development, and platform and seller expansion overseas. Developing the 'market procurement + cross-border e-commerce' and 'China-Europe Railway Express + cross-border e-commerce' models, enhancing transportation support capabilities including maritime, air, rail, and multimodal transport. Strongly supporting cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouses, improving overseas smart logistics platforms, innovatively developing digital trade, and supporting e-commerce enterprises in expanding the export of high-quality digital services.

Under the 'Guiding Compliant Overseas Expansion' measure, the 'Opinions' explicitly state: formulating guidelines for e-commerce enterprises going global, supporting qualified localities to establish cross-border e-commerce compliance service platforms for overseas expansion based on comprehensive overseas service systems, encouraging e-commerce enterprises to register trademarks and apply for patents overseas, develop their own brand portfolios, and enhance compliance levels. Encouraging overseas e-commerce enterprises to improve their local operational capabilities, cultivate local talent, empower local SMEs, fulfill social responsibilities, compete fairly and orderly, and achieve mutual benefits. Strengthening monitoring and early warning of overseas operational risks, guiding enterprises to enhance risk response capabilities, actively engaging in external negotiations, and safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests abroad.

The industry generally views this as 'a top-level design-level benefit for the cross-border e-commerce export sector.'

The 'Opinions' explicitly propose developing the 'market procurement + cross-border e-commerce' and 'China-Europe Railway Express + cross-border e-commerce' models, while strongly supporting the construction of overseas warehouses, which will further optimize the cross-border logistics system: on one hand, integrating rail transport into the mainstream logistics system for cross-border e-commerce, leveraging the advantages of the China-Europe Railway Express, provides new options for sellers of large and heavy goods; on the other hand, addressing pain points such as non-invoiced procurement and difficulties in foreign exchange collection for small and medium-sized sellers, the 'market procurement + cross-border e-commerce' integrated model offers a compliant export path for SMEs. Meanwhile, overseas warehouses have been upgraded from 'optional facilities' to 'core infrastructure.'

Additionally, for the first time, the 'Opinions' explicitly propose 'formulating guidelines for e-commerce enterprises going global,' support localities in building cross-border e-commerce compliance service platforms for overseas expansion, and encourage enterprises to register trademarks, apply for patents, and develop their own brands overseas, providing support for the compliant overseas expansion of cross-border e-commerce enterprises.

Below is a screenshot of the full text of the 'Opinions':