GANYU District in Lianyugang City, Jiangsu Province, is exploring enhanced cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) links with the Philippines as more people prefer to transact business online to ensure their safety amid the pandemic.

A government-business delegation led by Ganyu District Deputy Governor Mr. XU Bei and Zhewang Town Mayor Mme. ZHANG Lai Tao called on the Philippine Consulate General recently to lay out plans for an app-based e-commerce platform to facilitate e-commerce with the Philippines.

Also part of the blueprint is a fully-functional CBEC industrial park by 2025 that will host and incubate enterprises.

Philippine Consul General to Shanghai Josel Francisco Ignacio, Economic Officer Consul Conrado B. Demdem, Jr., Commercial Vice Consul Mario Tani and Tourism Attaché Ireneo Reyes met the visitors. Rounding off the Ganyu side were Zhewang Town People’s Congress Vice Chairman Mr. LIU Shan Liang, Ben-Agriculture Industrial Group Chairman WANG Pei Chao, Philippine Uni-Steady Exim Corp. representative Mr. CHEN Si Jie, and businessman Mr. Paul Dean SHI, an importer of Philippine food products.

Ignacio welcomed Ganyu officials’ interest and the potential win-win for both the Philippines and Ganyu in terms of capitalizing on the economic rewards of CBEC.

“If realized, the Philippine merchandise exports gain an important additional gateway into the Chinese market. Online platforms afford our goods better visibility, exposure and access.”

Ganyu, for its part, gets to advance its stock as a rising e-commerce player among Chinese localities.

Ganyu is a port town strategically located along the Yellow Sea on the northernmost coast of Jiangsu.

The province is second only to Guangdong in terms of provincial GDP and significantly, in terms of imports from the Philippines.

Located in Lianyungang City, Ganyu District, home to 1.2 million people, has for its main industries oil, iron and steel, processed seafood, and reused plastic materials.

With a GDP of RMB 15.3 billion (USD 2.35 billion) in 2020, it was one of the Top 100 districts in China. In 2020,

Ganyu District’s CBEC industry recorded a retail value of RMB 3 billion (USD 461.5 million) mainly from trade in agricultural, apparel, and footwear products.

Supported by the provincial government’s favorable policies on CBEC, it has bonded warehouses, professional cross-border e-commerce teams, and a vibrant live streaming economy.