Premier Li Keqiang recently stressed the need to "support the development of overseas warehouses" in a teleconference on deepening reform, regulation and services and improving the business environment across China. With the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce business, enterprises have a high demand for overseas warehouses, which has become an increasingly popular business. In an interview with China Trade News, a reporter found that companies set up overseas warehouses for a variety of purposes, not just cross-border e-commerce business; In the establishment and operation of overseas warehouses, some local governments did give real money subsidies; As overseas positions become increasingly popular and competitive, operating companies are adjusting their thinking flexibly in the hope of winning the competition and staying in business for a longer period of time.

It is understood that Qingdao Haokunda International Logistics Co., Ltd. invested and built a cross-border e-commerce public overseas warehouse in Melbourne, Australia in 2016, covering an area of 2,142 square meters, providing comprehensive services such as customs clearance, warehousing, delivery, product promotion, exchange and return. In 2018, The Overseas warehouse of Melbourne, Australia was designated as the official Overseas warehouse of Australia by EBAY platform. "After this overseas warehouse was built, some cross-border e-commerce enterprises began to cooperate with us," Wang told reporters.

"Our overseas warehouses initially serve some overseas enterprises, not limited to cross-border e-commerce enterprises. From now on, both traditional business enterprises and cross-border e-commerce enterprises are our customers. I have also noticed that the overseas positions of different companies focus on different industries. It is important for us to serve our clients in whatever industry they are engaged in." Qingdao firster logistics Co. LTD. Mr. Lu told reporters. It is understood that the company set up and operated an overseas warehouse in Bangkok, Thailand in 2017, covering an area of 2,200 square meters, providing customs clearance, warehousing, logistics, agent procurement, simple processing and other services. In 2019, this overseas warehouse was named "Public overseas warehouse of Cross-border e-commerce in Shandong Province".

Qingdao Wanjia Logistics Co., LTD., Ms. Liu told reporters, "Our company's overseas warehouse in Moscow is a cooperative warehouse, not a self-built warehouse. The purpose of creating overseas warehouses is primarily to facilitate the company's business, not to radiate from it around Russia. This overseas warehouse is in good condition at present, and also stored epidemic prevention supplies during the epidemic. In normal times, we mainly transport and store postal parcels. In the process, we use the LCL railway and also ship the goods via the China-Europe freight train." It is understood that Qingdao Wanjia International logistics Co., Ltd. has an area of 3,000 square meters, providing cross-border transport double customs clearance, tax payment, warehousing, logistics distribution, return and exchange, after-sales service, display and other services. In 2019, the overseas warehouse was rated as "public overseas warehouse of Cross-border e-commerce in Shandong Province".

"Many companies lease local warehouses overseas and declare overseas warehouses when they reach a certain size. Many members of Qingdao Cross-border E-commerce Association have their own overseas warehouses." Su Jing, Secretary-General of Qingdao Cross-border E-commerce Association, said, "When we hold activities, overseas warehouses will be introduced, especially the new customs 9810 policy concerning overseas warehouses. We will share new trends, interpret policies and provide identification guidelines to member enterprises. Association also for the member enterprises docking overseas warehouse resources."

In terms of local governments' support for the development of overseas warehouses, Shandong awarded "public overseas warehouses of cross-border e-commerce enterprises in Shandong province", and some regions in Shandong gave relevant overseas warehouses 2 million yuan in subsidies, according to Su.

Although the overseas warehouse is popular, it does not mean that it can survive all the time. How to win in the fierce competition is a test for every enterprise. "In my impression, some enterprises that were named 'public overseas warehouse of Cross-border e-commerce in Shandong Province' in 2016 are no longer engaged in overseas warehouse business." Su Jing said frankly, "Amazon has its own overseas warehouse, and e-commerce merchants on Amazon platform do not need to build overseas warehouse themselves. However, some e-commerce enterprises on Aliexpress platform choose to join cainiao and Aliexpress overseas warehouse, and at the same time find another overseas warehouse to use. It's done from a cost standpoint."

The reporter learned from Aliexpress that, in addition to constantly improving cainiao's overseas warehouse network, the official release of Aliexpress Overseas Warehouse 2.0 is very flexible, which not only maintains the diversity of overseas warehouses, but also responds to the diversified choices and different demands of enterprise customers, striving to further enhance competitiveness. "On the one hand, we are in official rookie warehouses in Spain, France, Poland, Belgium, the Czech Republic and other countries. The use of Cainiao official storehouse will be inclined to provide supply chain financial services for merchants, and provide services such as European terminal subsidies. Aliexpress encourages merchants to participate in the delivery service. Although these merchants do not use Cainiao overseas warehouses, they can be encouraged as long as they meet the timeliness requirements and promise to provide consumers with deterministic timeliness services." Li Dawei, supply chain director of Aliexpress, said, "This flexibility is based on two principles. One is that you don't want merchants to move their warehouses. There is no need to move to a novice warehouse since you already have an overseas warehouse. Second, they don't want to change the existing business process."

The reporter also understands, the enterprise that a few are engaged in overseas warehouse business still does service fine, reflect humanization, the hope obtains more customer favor in the competition with this in the same trade. For example, a company that provides services to overseas locations in the US has reinforced two details: carefully pick items that are close to the latest deadline and prioritise shipments so that customers are not liable for default; Second, in the process of operation and delivery, occasionally take pictures of goods to send to customers, so that customers feel at ease.

The reporter's note

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 this year, cross-border e-commerce has grown rapidly. Cross-border e-commerce platforms have long realized that quality service and good user experience are very important in the competition. The overseas warehouse plays an important role in the acceleration of cross-border e-commerce logistics and service upgrade.

Through all kinds of overseas warehouse, electric business platform and industry association of the interview you can see, "can support the development of overseas warehouse" to a lot of link, including overseas warehouse application and market demand survey analysis, national and local government level honor award, rating and policy support, include rational guidance to the enterprises into the line, benign competition, etc.

To be specific, overseas warehouses can serve both cross-border e-commerce and traditional commercial enterprises. Therefore, the market demand research and analysis of overseas warehouses should include a variety of purposes. "go-out" enterprises not engaged in cross-border e-commerce business also have actual demands for overseas warehouses.

The award, rating and policy support at the national and local government levels are also very important for the development of overseas enterprises, and the combination of the award, rating, preferential policies and financial subsidies will have a better effect and a higher gold content. In consideration of the fact that in some regions enterprises that have won honors in the past are no longer engaged in overseas warehouses, local departments concerned may consider more about the length of establishment of overseas warehouses of enterprises when awarding honors, and update the list of honorary enterprises in a timely manner to give "lifetime" honors as little as possible.

While the market mechanism plays a fundamental role in guiding enterprises to rational conduct and healthy competition, government departments, industry associations, think tanks and the media can also play their respective roles. In particular, the research and analysis of industry associations and think tanks and the media's reports on the development of overseas warehouses can help relevant departments and the industry increase their understanding of the actual competition situation of overseas warehouses and reduce blind investment and irrational competition. The current competition of overseas warehouses shows that the overseas warehouses of large e-commerce platforms have their advantages in size and brand, but they still need to constantly introduce flexible regulations to respond to the diversified demands of enterprise customers, so as to reduce some of them to choose other overseas warehouses for cost and other reasons.

Competition and cooperation between different overseas warehouses are continuing. We hope to see the growth and sound development of more overseas warehouses under the joint efforts of all parties.