Two job seekers talk with company representatives in Binjiang district, Hangzhou. [Photo provided by Binjiang district]

Binjiang district in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, has launched a comprehensive service platform for foreign cross-border e-commerce talent to help ease recruitment bottlenecks in the city's fast-growing digital trade sector.

Hangzhou's cross-border e-commerce industry has expanded rapidly in recent years, but the supply of foreign livestream hosts has remained tight. Local demand has exceeded 6,000 positions, while the number of suitable candidates is fewer than 100. Recruiting a qualified foreign host has required not only a lengthy search but also repeated steps in talent recognition and visa processing.

Binjiang's new platform integrates talent recognition, internship endorsements, port visa services, university-enterprise cooperation, and recruitment into a one-stop digital system designed to streamline the process.

Since the platform went online, the number of documents required for online applications has been cut by 40 percent. Since the start of 2025, the district has completed 38 foreign talent recognition cases, exceeding the total for the previous two years combined. Local authorities said the recognized talent has helped participating companies generate a cumulative gross merchandise volume, or GMV, of $35 million.

At Hangzhou Duhe Zhizhong Technology Co, Thai livestream host Sherry switches between Chinese and Thai to introduce products during broadcasts. A graduate of Zhejiang University, she joined the company in 2025 and has recorded a monthly GMV of about 500,000 yuan ($69,000) while contributing to several Thailand-focused projects.

Her experience reflects Binjiang's broader efforts. According to Duhe Zhizhong, the company's foreign employees generated nearly $4 million in GMV in 2025, while projects involving foreign staff achieved an average annual growth rate of 180 percent.