November 22, at APEC Lima, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Peruvian president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, together witnessed the signing of a cross-border e-commerce bilateral trade MOU between their two countries, marking a milestone in digital trade. The agreement was facilitated by Diane Wang, founder and CEO of Chinese cross-border e-commerce firm DHgate.com, and DHgate.com will assume the responsibility of implementing and realizing all terms of the agreement, including constructing the cross-border e-commerce platform.
The purpose of this agreement is to grant Peruvian SMEs (small-and-medium sized enterprises) access to the Chinese market and vice versa, both countries will designate a city to base the e-commerce operations out of, and the agreement also includes the construction of a bilateral e-commerce trading platform, and the implementation of customs clearance, inspection, quarantine, adjusting for exchange rates, import/export taxes, local payment integration, distribution channels, providing capacity building for SMEs, and constructing a credit based system for SMEs for the use of internet finance.
"The signing of the cross-border e-commerce MOU between China and Peru symbolizes the milestone of taking the first step in South America of the online silk road. China is Peru's largest trading partner, and through bilateral cooperation, import and export volume will increase even more. In the near future, we will facilitate more bilateral e-commerce agreements between China and other countries," said Diane Wang, ABAC SME working group co-chair and DHgate.com founder and CEO.
The day before to the signing ceremony, Diane Wang addressed delegates and leaders at the economic cooperation strategy conference between China and Peru, she reported and updated all participants on the current state of e-commerce cooperation between China and Peru. Prior to the signing of this MOU, the process for SMEs in both countries to access the counterpart's market was extremely complicated and formidable, the conditions of the MOU will simplify the process which will largely increase efficiency, lower the cost, and boost trade between the two nations.
According to data from DHgate.com, since 2015, the cross-border e-commerce market in Peru has been developing at a remarkable pace, and has become one of the most important emerging markets in the industry, marked by a 70% increase in imports and exports, with the most popular products being consumer electronics, health and beauty products, wigs, and sporting goods. In the future these products will enter the Peruvian market from China with ease, and will also hopefully increase imports into the Peruvian market of vehicle accessories, raw materials, and steel. In the future Peruvian sellers will bring desirable imports to the Chinese markets such as seafood and fruits.
