China, Turkey ink deal for cross-border ecommerce operations

The agreement was signed during the G20 Summit in Turkey by transportation officials from both sides and witnessed by leaders of both sides, technews.co.uk reports. Chinese B2B ecommerce provider DHgate.com has been designated to facilitate and establish a cross-border ecommerce platform.

Wang Shutong, vice chairman of the Working Group of SMEs at the G20 Business Summit (Business 20), said that with the global popularity of the Internet of Things, countries can use cross-border ecommerce business to help upgrade and transition the economy.

Wang, the person who pushed for ecommerce becoming an official topic at Business 20, said some G20 countries, including Russia, Australia and the EU hope to connect a cross-border ecommerce platform with China and jointly develop the Online Silk Road. She said that as a world-leading cross-border ecommerce B2B provider, DHgate.com has expanded its coverage to 1.2 million suppliers and 10 million buyers of 33 million products in 230 countries and regions in the world.

Strategically located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Turkey has always been a part of an important trading route. In recent years, Turkey’s demand for Chinese goods has increased rapidly, pushing the bilateral trade volume from USD 1 billion in 2000 to USD 27.7 billion in 2014. China has since become the second largest import origin for Turkey.

Meanwhile, Turkey is also one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe in terms of ecommerce business, with an annual growth rate of 75%. In 2014, one third of Turkey’s 77 million population purchased goods online and total transactions were estimated at USD 18 billion.