Cross-border e-commerce in Ningbo had accounted for 16.78 percent of the city's total foreign trade as of May 1 this year, an uptick of 2.8 percent year-on-year, according to data from the Ningbo municipal bureau of commerce. 

The Ningbo Bonded Area ranked first nationwide in terms of e-commerce imports during this period.

Numerous local companies, including Hooya Group and Aosom E-commerce Inc, reported an increase of over 60 percent in business volume amid the epidemic, according to Chen Lizhen, deputy head of the Ningbo municipal bureau of commerce. 

Since 2016, when Ningbo was designated a national pilot zone for cross-border e-commerce, the city has been exploring export models featuring a combination of cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses.

Such a model enables local manufacturers to interact directly with consumers worldwide. 

To date, 48 businesses based in the city have set up 124 warehouses in 23 countries and regions covering a total area of nearly one million square meters, and these numbers are still growing, especially in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. 

Cindy Tai, vice-president of Amazon China, said enterprises in a variety of industries are pursuing digital transformation in an effort to reduce the negative impact of the epidemic and other risks.

On June 11, Ningbo established a cross-border e-commerce alliance in an effort to help 17,000 local manufacturing enterprises expand into overseas markets by making use of an overseas marketing network established by several leading companies.

According to Cai Jingquan, deputy general manager of Hooya Group, chairman of the alliance, they have reached initial cooperation agreements with more than 60 companies in Beilun district. 

The General Administration of Customs recently announced that on July 1 it will launch cross-border e-commerce B2B export trials at its 10 affiliated branches across the nation in cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, and Ningbo. 

Chen said the announcement indicates that the nation will fully support the development of cross-border e-commerce exports and that supporting policies related to financing and foreign currencies will soon be introduced. 

The Yinzhou branch of Bank of China has already introduced services to meet the capital needs of enterprises looking to expand their overseas warehouses.