Flourishing online shopping further links up China, Myanmar

As Jiegao Port in west Yunnan's border city of Ruili connects Muse City in Myanmar, it holds a key geographic position and thus enjoys preferential policies. The port forms a unique free-trade area between China and Myanmar. 

In recent two years, a lot of express shops have emerged on the streets of Jiegao, collecting and delivering goods from China to Myanmar. Some shops also serve as go-betweens, importing Myanmar goods for their Chinese customers. In the coming future, the port will be built into a cross-border business town by boosting its logistics and e-commerce industry.

Role of express shops

Yang Ronggui, a Myanmar girl, sent two garments by expressing from Jiegao Port to Yangon on Dec. 14, which only cost her 11 yuan. Yang came to a Jiegao express shop to get her package, while sending another package to her friends in Yangon. She told us that online shopping has become an essential part of her life since it is convenient and costs less.

"It is just like a relay race. Following the orders of Myanmar customers, we deliver packages to Myanmar and ask them to receive," said Zhao Guodian, the man in charge of an express shop called ArLuPost in Jiegao.

He said many Myanmar folks have got used to online shopping and the daily number of packages they deliver has risen from 4 or 5 at first to 200-300 now, let alone during the online shopping festivals like "Double 11" and "Double 12". 

E-commerce in Myanmar

Wang Guangfu, founder of the Yunnan Cumaotong trade company, runs his company by matching quality Chinese goods with Myanmar consumers. Now, Myanmar customers can buy Chinese commodities via an APP, along with the opening-up trend and popularization of the Internet in Myanmar.

Wang said Myanmar has been linked to China by highways, and the railway is also on the agenda, so the business potential in Ruili can be promising. By far, the APP has been in use for only two months, but the e-commerce business volume of the company has reached 4 million yuan. They are expecting an explosive growth of their orders next year.

To boost and upgrade China-Myanmar trade in the border area, Ruili has begun the buildup of a cross-border e-commerce industrial park, so as to share data regarding inventory, increment, and others. 

Opportunities of Ruili

"Jiegao is blessed with four advantages of market, cost, policy and location. This port is capable of developing itself from a transfer station of trade between Myanmar and China into the logistics and information center for both countries and even for South and Southeast Asia," said Yang Shiyong, director of Management Committee of Border Trade Zone in Jiegao. 

Yang said the storage and human costs in Jiegao Port are equal to less than 10% of those in Hong Kong, making Jiegao an attractive port for international dealers using the cross-border e-commerce platform.
Transformation and upgrading of trade mode in Jiegao is hopeful to change the current bilateral situation of traditional trade of two countries and promote Jiegao cross-border trade zone in line with trades between other countries in the world.

In the future, commodities of the border trade will extend to all articles of daily use from current industrial products and jewelries via e-commerce. Together with regional resources integration, cross border tourism industry in Ruili will be upgraded and greater opportunities will be brought to the city, making it a new promising land to set up businesses.

Reporting Guanxi Ruyi and Li Wenjun
Translating by John Li