On August 28, the 2026 Zhengzhou Cross-Border E-Commerce Trade Expo and Cross-Border E-Commerce Cooperation and Exchange Conference (hereinafter referred to as the "Expo") grandly opened at the Zhengzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center. Themed "Buy Global, Sell Global," the three-day event serves as a vital window for observing the development trends of China's cross-border e-commerce sector. It comprehensively showcased new business formats, new models, and new scenarios in the industry, providing valuable insights and practices for inland cities in developing open economies.
Reportedly, the Expo boasts a massive scale and diverse content, with an exhibition area reaching 30,000 square meters. The event brought together over 20 leading global cross-border e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba, eBay, TikTok Shop, and Shein, along with more than 500 premium enterprises. This impressive lineup attracted over 50,000 professional visitors for on-site participation and business matchmaking, creating a vibrant atmosphere. In terms of exhibition layout, the Expo meticulously planned multiple thematic zones, including International Brands, Comprehensive Pilot Zones and Industrial Clusters, Cross-Border E-Commerce Ecosystem Services, Product Sourcing, and Second-hand Goods. These zones provided an all-around, multi-dimensional display of the latest achievements and cutting-edge trends in the cross-border e-commerce sector.
Beyond the extensive exhibitions, the Expo also hosted a series of high-profile concurrent events, including the Songshan-Carpathian Mountains International Cooperation Exchange, the Cross-Border Circulation Exchange for Second-hand Goods, thematic promotion sessions, and business matchmaking meetings. These events closely focused on the pain points and bottlenecks commonly faced by enterprises going global, such as channel expansion, payment and settlement, cross-border logistics, credit system construction, and intellectual property protection. They aimed to promote in-depth integration and efficient synergy of resources across the entire cross-border e-commerce industry chain.
At the opening ceremony, Wang Bin, Director of the Center for Circulation Industry Promotion under the Ministry of Commerce, delivered a keynote speech. He pointed out that China has now established 178 cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, achieving full coverage across all 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Data shows that in 2025, China's total cross-border e-commerce import and export volume reached 2.75 trillion RMB, a substantial increase of 69.7% compared to 2020. The compound annual growth rate reached 11.2%, significantly outpacing the overall import and export growth rate by 4.1 percentage points. Wang Bin provided an in-depth analysis of the five major development trends currently shaping cross-border e-commerce: strong momentum in inland regions, imports driving consumption expansion and upgrading, accelerated cultivation of independent brands, increasingly improved logistics systems, and deep digital empowerment. He emphasized that cross-border e-commerce will play an increasingly significant role in enhancing the quality of domestic market supply and expanding consumption, and that promoting expanded imports will serve as a crucial policy tool for achieving trade balance.
In his address, Zhang Daxing, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Commerce of Henan Province, elaborated on Henan's development experience in cross-border e-commerce. He noted that Henan's "Four Silk Roads" have been working in synergy, enabling the province's cross-border e-commerce import and export volume to maintain consecutive double-digit growth. Its pioneering "1210" online shopping bonded import model has been replicated and promoted nationwide. To effectively translate logistical corridor advantages into industrial competitiveness, Henan has continuously advanced the "Cross-Border E-Commerce + Industrial Cluster" model, hosting over 200 matchmaking events in the past two years. This model has yielded remarkable results: Xuchang's hair products have doubled their export volume, Luoyang's steel furniture has seen a continuous rise in market share in Europe and the Americas, and specialized industrial clusters such as Nanyang's textiles and apparel and Pingyu's outdoor furniture have successfully leveraged these platforms to go global and enter international markets.
Amid the wave of digitalization, AI technology is profoundly transforming the cross-border e-commerce industry. At the Expo, Hu Huadong, CEO of Guangdong Xizhiyue Network Technology Co., Ltd., shared the company's innovative practices. He introduced that Xizhiyue has created an "AI + Global Product Portfolio" model, delivering a comprehensive set of actionable cross-border business solutions for factories and sellers. Addressing challenges faced by numerous high-quality manufacturing factories in central China, such as a shortage of operational talent and unfamiliarity with overseas platforms, this model is dedicated to lowering the barriers for enterprises going global. It allows factories to focus on production while entrusting cross-border operations and overseas fulfillment to professional platforms. Industry experts note that as costs in coastal regions continue to rise, Zhengzhou's strategic position in the national cross-border industry landscape is becoming increasingly prominent. The Expo is steadily emerging as a vital window for observing the development trends of China's cross-border e-commerce, injecting robust momentum into the high-quality development of the industry.