In a bid to eliminate the impact created by the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign trade, enterprises in Nanhu district, Jiaxing, have drawn support from the internet and exploited new ways to export goods through cross-border e-commerce. In recent days, the Nanhu district government invited representatives and experts from Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, together with 15 representatives from local enterprises, to discuss ways to develop cross-border e-commerce by virtue of Alibaba's international platform.

Jiaxing in East China's Zhejiang province recently gained approval from the State Council to build an integrated pilot zone for cross-border e-commerce along with 45 other cities in China. The Jiaxing pilot zone will take Jiaxing Comprehensive Bonded Zone and Jiaxing Comprehensive Bonded Zone (B) as its core, supported by Jiaxing cross-border e-commerce industrial park, Jiaxing e-commerce industrial park, Haining cross-border e-commerce industrial park and Pinghu international e-commerce industrial park to form a "one core, multiple parks" spatial arrangement.

Traditional foreign trade was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but cross-border e-commerce is encountering new development opportunities. According to a representative from Alibaba, sales of products in health, sports, clean energy and electronics have risen sharply as shown by big data analysis, and related enterprises are working to achieve full production and stocking.

Yihutong is a cross-border e-commerce company based in Jiaxing. Overseas sales account for 70 percent of its total sales. Its clothes are exported to more than 20 countries, such as the United States and Japan, through Amazon and other platforms.

Amid the epidemic outbreak, the sales of leisure wear and sports clothing to overseas markets increased. Yihutong's overseas orders rose in April by more than 20 percent over the same period in 2019, and in the second quarter of 2020 the company's overseas orders are expected to grow by 15 percent to 20 percent.

Nanhu district plans to cooperate with Alibaba Group to launch a "quality brands go overseas" project. The project is aimed at helping manufacturing enterprises and those engaged in foreign trade to open new channels for trade, develop international markets and build a digital "go overseas" system.