China's e-commerce exports soar in 2017: report

China's e-commerce exports rose 14.5 percent year on year to 6.3 trillion yuan (1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2017, according to a report released by the E-commerce Research Center (ECRC).

A foreign buyer asks information on e-commerce at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on April 23, 2017. [File photo: VCG]

E-commerce exports have taken a growing share of China's total foreign trade, playing a key role in the restructuring and upgrading of its trade pattern, said Zhang Zhouping, an analyst with the ECRC.

China remains the world's important commodity exporter and e-commerce exports have replaced general trade amid stabilizing trade volume, showing good growth momentum, Zhang said.

In 2017, value of business-to-business (B2B) exports rose 13.3 percent to 5.1 trillion yuan, according to the report. Online retail sales of e-commerce exports came in at 1.2 trillion yuan, up 21.2 percent year on year.

The rapid expansion of cross-border e-commerce has offered opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in world trade.