China saw a surge in e-commerce imports on the back of strong consumer demand and a boom in cross-border online platforms, data from an industry report showed.
In 2018, China's imports through e-commerce platforms, including B2B, B2C, C2C and O2O, amounted to 1.9 trillion yuan (about 275 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, rising 26.7 percent year on year, according to a report by the e-commerce research center under the online service provider www.100ec.cn.
Baby products are among the most purchased on the platforms, and with the country's two-child policy, there is still huge market potential in the category, according to Cao Lei, director of the research center.
In recent years, Chinese consumers have become increasingly drawn to foreign brands via e-commerce platforms such as Tmall Global, Alibaba's cross-border e-commerce arm, and NetEase Kaola.
To stimulate imports, Chinese authorities have promised to lower tariffs, improve customs clearance, reduce the cost of importing goods and accelerate cross-border e-commerce.
