BEIJING — China saw its total number of overseas warehouses topping 2,000 amid the country's efforts to encourage the development of cross-border e-commerce, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on Dec 30.

The total area of overseas warehouses exceeded 16 million square meters, Li Xingqian, an official with the MOC, told a press conference.

The overseas warehouses are those built by the export and e-commerce firms in overseas buyer countries or regions. After local customers place orders, firms send goods directly from the warehouses to their destinations.

These warehouses are a vital node in cross-border e-commerce and the new infrastructure facilities of foreign trade. The State Council's Executive Meeting held last week stressed the need to intensify support for the development and use of overseas warehouses in a market-oriented approach.

The ministry will encourage traditional foreign trade, cross-border e-commerce, and logistics firms to jointly build overseas warehouses and ramp up financial support for these projects to boost its development, said Li.