China's cross-border e-commerce trade has developed rapidly to maintain its growth momentum since the beginning of the year, an official at the country's Customs authority said.

"The advantages and potential of China's cross-border e-commerce in 'buying and selling globally' continue to be released," said Lyu Daliang, head of the Department of Statistics and Analysis at the General Administration of Customs.

Lyu made the remarks at the International Forum on Cross-border E-commerce Development during the 2023 China Langfang International Economic and Trade Fair in Langfang, Hebei province, on Saturday. A report on the country's cross-border e-commerce trade was also released at the forum.

The value of China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reached 2.1 trillion yuan ($294 billion) last year, the first time that it has exceeded 2 trillion yuan, according to the Annual Report on Cross-border E-commerce Trade in 2022.

The value increased by 7.1 percent last year compared to that in 2021 and accounted for 4.9 percent of the total value of China's imports and exports, the report said.

"Since the beginning of this year, China's cross-border e-commerce has continued to maintain its growth momentum," Lyu said.

He said a GAC survey had shown that more than 70 percent of enterprises expect cross-border e-commerce to be either stable or grow in 2023.

The export value of the country's cross-border e-commerce last year reached 1.53 trillion yuan, rising 10.1 percent, while the import value was at 527.8 billion yuan, down 0.8 percent, the report showed.

Among the export destinations, the United States accounted for 34.3 percent, followed by the United Kingdom at 6.5 percent, Germany at 4.6 percent, Malaysia at 3.9 percent and Russia at 2.9 percent.

There were also some promising export markets like Singapore, Japan, Canada, France and Thailand.

On imports, products from Japan accounted for 21.7 percent of China's cross-border e-commerce total import value, the US 17.9 percent, Australia 10.5 percent and France 7.5 percent.

The proportion of consumer goods further increased, constituting 92.8 percent of exports and 98.3 percent of imports, according to the report.

Major export items included clothing, shoes, bags and electronic products, while imports included cosmetics, toiletries, food, medicine, medical equipment and powdered milk.

The provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangsu were more active in cross-border e-commerce, cumulatively accounting for about 70 percent of the nation's total, the report said.

Cross-border e-commerce exports from Hebei rose more than 20 percent year-on-year, higher than the 2022 national average.