Cross Border E-Commerce Has The Greatest Advantages

In the Opinions on Financial Support for the Construction of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") issued by the People's Bank of China, overseas financing of enterprises is allowed to become one of the highlights of Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone entering the practical stage.

Due to the lack of fixed assets, online retailers It has always been difficult to obtain financing from domestic financial institutions and highly relies on VC/PE, which leads to the loss of autonomy in the process of development. Some insiders believe that e-commerce enterprises with an urgent need for financial openness may collectively join the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. However, some e-commerce practitioners believe that the open policy of the FTZ is mainly aimed at finance, insurance and other industries, so it has greater attraction for online insurance platforms and P2P enterprises.

　　 Allow enterprises to finance overseas

It was mentioned in the opinion that in order to facilitate foreign financing, Chinese and foreign enterprises, non bank financial institutions and other economic organizations registered in the pilot zone are allowed to borrow domestic and foreign currency funds from abroad as required, improve the macro prudential management system of full caliber foreign debt, and take effective measures to effectively prevent foreign debt risks.

According to the analysis from Beishang Commercial Research Institute, overseas financing mainly refers to borrowing or lending from overseas, or equity financing, such as financing through overseas industrial funds and investment banks; There is also structural financing, which is a combination of several financing methods. For some trading enterprises, it also includes trade financing.

In the opinion of the person in charge of domestic e-commerce enterprises, the free trade zone allows enterprises to finance overseas, which brings convenience to enterprises in exchange, and is helpful in the capital chain for e-commerce industries with frequent foreign financing. The 2013-2017 China E-commerce Industry Market Outlook and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report shows that in the first half of this year, there were 44 venture investments in China's e-commerce industry, with a total amount of more than 7.836 billion yuan, of which foreign currency investment accounted for 70.67%. The reporter of Beijing Business Daily learned that a group buying enterprise had received foreign currency financing and was unable to convert it into RMB due to foreign exchange control. It had asked the supplier to accept payment for goods in the US dollar account, and therefore had been heard of a negative rumor of tight funds.

　 The cross-border e-commerce has the greatest advantage

Since September 26 this year, "Cross border Connect" has become one of the most concerned enterprises in the e-commerce industry with the attitude of a dark horse. On that day, the parent company of Cross border Connect, Dongfang Electronic Payment Co., Ltd., obtained the official reply from the General Department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on the pilot of cross-border e-commerce foreign exchange payment business, which also means that Cross border Connect has become the first e-commerce platform in the Free Trade Zone, and also the only national cross-border trade electronic transaction pilot in Shanghai.

Different from the B2B export nature of mainstream cross-border e-commerce, Cross Border is an import platform for overseas shopping. The goods are released and delivered by overseas brands. Consumers can see the price of goods, tariffs and logistics fees on the page. It is worth mentioning that, unlike physical stores, cross-border pass has different preferential prices due to different tax payment methods. For example, in traditional retail enterprises, the tax rate of cosmetics imported in the form of general goods is 150%, but the cross-border pass can declare tax on 50% of personal goods. Some insiders said that this made the price of overseas shopping commodities represented by Cross Border Access generally 20% - 30% lower than that of traditional retailers. Although it is still unable to do the "tax free" purchasing on the C2C platform, the formality, fidelity and price transparency still capture some consumers.

In addition to Cross border Access, many Shanghai e-commerce enterprises, including No. 1 Store, have made it clear that they intend to settle in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone because of the demand for food import or "overseas shopping".

Zhao Guozhang, co-founder and deputy general manager of Tiantian Orchard, told the Beijing Business Daily that the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has a greater impact on finance, insurance, port shipping and logistics enterprises. "As a local fruit fresh import and export enterprise in Shanghai, we have been paying attention to the relevant policies of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone."

Zhao Guozhang revealed that as agricultural products have relevant inspection and quarantine links, they will not enter the Shanghai Free Trade Zone too soon, but at present, Tiantian Orchard has a project near the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. In the future, businesses such as offshore fruit trading and export of imported products after processing will have development prospects in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

on-line finance Insurance Enthusiasm

However, unlike the phenomenon of Shanghai e-commerce clustering in the free trade zone, the person in charge of Beijing e-commerce enterprises also said that whether online or offline enterprises, the free trade zone is far less stimulating to the industry than companies in the financial field. There is no need for a large number of local vertical e-commerce companies to give up their current registration places and join the FTZ collectively.

The reporter learned that compared with physical e-commerce, Internet financial enterprises that sell financial and insurance products online are more enthusiastic about this. The enterprise that obtained the first foreign investment business license in the Free Trade Zone is the online insurance sales platform, Jiebao. It applied to establish a foreign-owned enterprise "Ariel (Shanghai) Network Technology Co., Ltd." in the Free Trade Zone, with a registered capital of 3 million dollars. In the opinion of Fang Yushu, CEO of the People's Insurance Corporation of China, although the future prospects are still uncertain, from the current perspective, the free trade zone is convenient for foreign exchange conversion and easy for foreign financing.

Recently, the hot P2P companies are also seen as a hot area to apply for the business license of the Free Trade Zone. In addition to the freedom of finance and trade, the rising house prices driven by the Free Trade Zone have also become a booster for investors in the Yangtze River Delta to seek investment projects on P2P platforms.

Guo Jiequn, chief risk officer of building block box of P2P online loan platform, told Beijing Business Daily that building block box is very concerned about the development of free trade zone and has been registered in Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

"However, the policy details of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone have not yet been released. The key question is whether China's financial market is one market or two markets. If it is two markets, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone is just an offshore market, an expansion of the Hong Kong market. There will not be too much communication with the mainland, and the benefits to the financial service platform are limited." Guo Jiequn said frankly.

Bonded warehouse may become the core of competition

In addition to financial liberalization, warehouse operation services driven by bonded warehouses are regarded as another future hotspot of the FTZ. At present, some enterprises have begun to lay out intensive cultivation in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, and want to create new growth points by leasing bonded warehouses.

How much can bonded warehouses save? A case can illustrate that at the end of October, the first domestic art bonded warehouse was settled in the Free Trade Zone. According to the media, taking a 1 million yuan commodity as an example, storing it in the Free Trade Zone will save at least 240000 yuan in taxes.

go back to business In this field, the development of cross-border e-commerce in the free trade zone will continue to generate demand for bonded warehouses. Some insiders believe that the FTZ will vigorously develop the warehousing and e-commerce service industry with import e-commerce as the focus, and become the warehousing operation base for overseas brand merchants and online retailers. And high-quality bonded warehouse and other logistics resources may become the hot spot of enterprise competition.