GUANGZHOU, August 20, 2020——FedEx Express (FedEx), a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and one of the world’s largest express transportation companies, recently upgraded its cross-border e-commerce export services in South China. Utilizing polices developed during the cross-border e-commerce B2B export supervision pilot program implemented by China Customs, the FedEx Guangzhou and Xiamen Gateways now offer efficient and convenient customs clearance services for cross-border e-commerce companies’ B2B export shipments.
The new policies apply to cross-border e-commerce B2B direct export and export to overseas warehouses. FedEx customers, after registering and system docking at their local customs offices, are able to enjoy a series of facilitation measures for their export goods, such as simplified declaration, priority inspection and return account management. They also no longer need to pack goods individually and stick air waybills on separate packages, instead they can export in batches, which improves efficiency and saves cost. At the same time, customers can take advantage of a variety of FedEx logistics services to reduce a shipment’s transit time such as customs transit, direct gateway exports and integrated national customs clearance.
“FedEx has been fully supporting and cooperating with Customs in various innovation and reform programs.” said Eddy Chan, senior vice president of FedEx China. “We are committed to providing convenient and efficient customs clearance services for Chinese cross-border e-commerce enterprises. That is why we are jointly promoting the high-quality development of China’s cross-border e-commerce industry with China Customs. The new model will be especially beneficial to small- and medium-sized enterprises, which generally export large quantities of goods, but at low unit prices. The new clearance method can further reduce their logistics costs, improve customs clearance efficiency and help them expand to overseas markets more rapidly.”
FedEx is actively cooperating with Xiamen Customs in the pilot project. On July 1, FedEx became the first international express enterprise to provide this service from the Xiamen Customs district when it assisted two Fujian customers, including Xiamen Worthfind E-commerce Co., Ltd., to export the first batch of cross-border e-commerce B2B goods successfully.
“We’ve been cooperating with FedEx since 2015,” said Zhou Xiaoming, deputy general manager, Supply Chain, Worthfind E-Commerce Company. “The efficiency of logistics has always been stable and high, which often renders compliments from our clients. The new cross-border e-commerce B2B supervision pilot project is another big step towards facilitating the development of the cross-border e-commerce industry. It provides great convenience to cross-border e-commerce companies like us. Thanks to the special services provided by FedEx Express, we have the opportunity to be one of the very first pioneer corporations to accomplish the transition from foreign trade to cross-border e-commerce. I look forward to future opportunities and the development of our company.”
On June 12, 2020, China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) issued the announcement of “The General Administration of Customs on Conducting the Pilot Project of Cross-border E-commerce B2B Export Supervision,” and on July 1, launched the pilot project in ten customs offices, including those in Xiamen and Guangzhou. In South China, in addition to the Guangzhou and Xiamen Gateways, FedEx plans to further extend this service to more cities.
E-commerce is one of the main driving forces of China’s economic growth. The COVID-19 outbreak this year has resulted in a large portion of daily consumption and services shifting online. The change of consumer behavior due to the pandemic has accelerated the growth in e-commerce demand. In the first half of this year, national online retail sales reached 5.15 trillion RMB, with a year-on-year increase of 7.3%[1]. In terms of cross-border e-commerce, from January to May 2020, China’s cross-border e-commerce retail imports and exports totaled 71.73 billion RMB, with a year-on-year increase of 22.4%, of which imports increased by 23% year-on-year, exports increased by 21.6% year-on-year[2]. With its extensive global network, FedEx has been developing and enhancing export-related services and tools to help Chinese companies access global markets faster.
In April of last year, at the FedEx Guangzhou and Xiamen Gateways, FedEx launched the “Cross-border E-Commerce Export Solution” for B2C in South China, providing efficient customs clearance services for cross-border e-commerce enterprises’ B2C goods through the Consolidated Clearance Declaration method. In June of this year, FedEx launched the “Online Declaration Tool” for exports, which facilitates customers’ submission of export trade data electronically.