XIAMEN — China’s cross-border e-commerce is forecast to see turnover top 9 trillion yuan ($1.3 trillion) in 2018, according to a report released by the China E-Commerce Association.

The report, released on Sept 9 at the ongoing 20th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), held in Xiamen, East China’s Fujian province, said that the top 10 import sources of China’s cross-border e-commerce trade in 2017 were Japan, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, the Netherlands, France, Britain, and China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Cross-border e-commerce is most active in South China’s Guangdong province, followed by Beijing, East China’s Zhejiang and Shandong provinces and Central China’s Henan province for exports via e-commerce.

Tong Xiaomin, chief engineer at the Information Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that the Chinese government supports cross-border e-commerce with policies and infrastructure building.

Globally, however, trade protectionism in forms of tariff barriers and antimonopoly investigations has posed negative influence on the development of cross-border e-commerce, Tong said.

He suggested that Chinese e-commerce firms and importers should heed turbulence in the international trade environment and improve their global competitiveness. Meanwhile, the e-commerce platforms should explore new market and adopt new technologies and applications to ensure the high-quality development.