Canton Fair signs up partners in e-commerce

He Wei, director of the Chongqing delegation to the fair and deputy director of the city's bureau of foreign trade and economic cooperation, said the e-commerce service will help local exporters to better tap the international market.

"The Canton Fair has already developed a rich resource of more than 1 million overseas buyers. The e-commerce platform will better serve Chinese exporters in conducting year-round trade with global buyers," said He.

Chongqing, along with several other cities such as Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Zhengzhou and Guangzhou, have become State-level pilot cities to conduct foreign e-commerce business, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

"E-commerce is a new driver of growth for the country's foreign trade, and it will become more and more important as information technology and economic globalization expand" said Gao Yaozong, deputy director of Guangzhou's bureau of foreign trade and economic cooperation.

Sources with the Guangzhou bureau said that transactions involving the city's international e-commerce activity in 2012 reached $6 billion, a year-on-year increase of more than 5 percent.

China's total e-commerce trade last year was $327 billion, up 25 percent.

Under the pilot plan, e-commerce trade will be included in customs trade statistics.

A growing number of Chinese exporters have become keen on using the Canton Fair's e-commerce service to expand their business. Zhang Xingming, general manager of Huidong Youme Shoes Factory, said that the e-commerce service will help reduce production costs by making tailored products for overseas clients.

"We have started conducting e-commerce business with overseas clients. It has helped us find more new clients and reduce the stock by making products that are more in line with clients' re-quests," Zhang said.