The "2024 Cross-border E-commerce Competitiveness Research Report (Country Dimension)" was released by the World Internet Conference in November 2024, aiming to help countries create a favorable business environment and promote the development of cross-border e-commerce. Through research on 55 sample countries, the report analyzes the competitiveness of cross-border e-commerce in various countries, including business environment, industrial competitiveness, and draws relevant conclusions and recommendations.
1. Core Conclusions
- Legal and Regulatory Framework: A sound and predictable legal and regulatory framework is crucial for the development of cross-border e-commerce. For example, China issued a "positive list" to promote cross-border e-commerce retail imports, and most sample countries actively participate in the formulation of international rules to improve their domestic legal and regulatory systems.
- Customs Clearance Costs and Facilitation: Lower customs clearance costs can reduce entry barriers for cross-border e-commerce. Countries and regions such as Singapore, the United States, and the European Union have relatively low customs clearance costs. Meanwhile, cross-border trade facilitation measures can improve development efficiency, and most sample countries have established a legal and regulatory system for an international trade "single window."
- Digital Infrastructure and Logistics System: Digital infrastructure drives industrial upgrading. For example, China has a leading mobile payment ecosystem and large-scale commercial deployment of mobile internet technology. Modern logistics systems support enterprises to integrate into global trade, and countries such as Germany and Japan have relatively advanced logistics systems.
- National Digital Literacy and Enterprise Capacity Building: National digital literacy is an important factor, and consumers with high digital literacy promote the development of cross-border e-commerce. Enterprise capacity building helps enhance industrial vitality, such as China establishing comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce and Germany implementing digitalization programs for SMEs.
2. Research System
- Definition of Cross-border E-commerce Competitiveness: Deconstructed from two dimensions—business environment and industrial competitiveness. Business environment includes policy and law, participation in international rules, customs clearance costs, public services, etc.; industrial competitiveness covers industrial foundation, trade market, production factors, and other aspects.
- Country Selection and Analysis: 55 sample countries were selected, taking into account industrial scale, characteristics, representativeness, region, and economic development status.
- Indicator System and Framework: An indicator system was constructed to measure cross-border e-commerce competitiveness, including business environment indicators (such as policy and regulation, transaction efficiency, etc.) and industrial competitiveness indicators (such as digital economy, trade market, etc.).
3. Results Analysis
- Analysis by Indicator Dimension
- Business Environment Indicators: Developed countries have relatively sound policy and regulatory systems and actively participate in international rules. Emerging market countries also perform well in cross-border e-commerce policies and legal regulations. There are significant differences among countries in cross-border transaction efficiency and facilitation; developed countries have high customs clearance efficiency and low costs, while emerging market countries perform better in public services.
- Industrial Competitiveness Indicators: Countries with large economies and strong industrial foundations perform outstandingly in industrial foundation competitiveness. Advantageous countries have high-income consumer groups and favorable geographic locations in trade market competitiveness. Large economies tend to show strong competitiveness in production factors.
- Analysis of Typical Countries: For example, Canada has low customs clearance costs and obvious advantages in logistics networks; China performs outstandingly in policy and regulation, industrial foundation, and other aspects; Germany and EU countries jointly optimize the business environment and have competitive advantages in consumer markets and production factors.
- Analysis by Regional Dimension: Countries with strong cross-border e-commerce competitiveness are mainly concentrated in Asia, Europe, and North America. Asian and Oceania countries perform well in participation in international rules; European countries have unified and complete legal and regulatory systems; North American countries show complementary advantages.
- Analysis by Income Dimension: Per capita GDP is highly positively correlated with cross-border e-commerce competitiveness. High-income countries have a generally high level of development, while middle- and low-income countries have a large gap with high-income countries in policy and law, efficiency and facilitation, and trade market competitiveness. However, some middle- and low-income countries also have their own advantages in cross-border e-commerce development, such as China taking the lead in policy and regulation, Mexico having strong policy and legal and production factor competitiveness, and Malaysia having advantages in efficiency and facilitation.
