E-commerce is providing opportunities for small and medium-sized US enterprises to tap into the Chinese market, said trade experts.

These opportunities took up much of the discussion at an online session on Monday on new channels of cross-border collaboration.

The event was hosted by the Oregon China Council and supported by government agencies from Fujian and Oregon, which became sister states in 1984. The two sides complement each other in various areas, officials said.

"As we all know, Oregon has prominent advantages in outdoor equipment, sportswear, agriculture and food processing industries," said Wang Deyang, deputy director-general of the trade development bureau of China's commerce ministry. "In recent years, the Chinese market has seen a significant rise in outdoor sports and a rapid increase in consumers' extra attention to food quality."

The "perfect match" between Oregon and Fujian on supply and demand generates great market potential for the "outdoor economy" and "dinner table upgrading", Wang said.

Main driver

"Meanwhile, the recent emergence of global cross-border e-commerce, with China as one of the main drivers, has added momentum to the growth of those industries," he said.

Wang stressed that business cooperation plays a vital role in deepening Sino-US economic and trade relations. He noted that the Chinese e-commerce market is developing vigorously, and the trade official encouraged more US companies to go to China to "share the development opportunities together".

Jess Paulson, director of market access and certification programs at Oregon's agriculture department, described the state as having a diverse agricultural landscape.

"It is the source of strength for Oregon agriculture. It's unfortunately also the greatest weakness of Oregon agriculture," Paulson said. "We have many products, but often not so much volume for any of them, except a handful of the biggest products."

As a result, finding the appropriate marketing channel for exports has been one of the greatest challenges the state faces, he said.

"E-commerce has been a growing interest to Oregon food and beverage producers, and I'm very much hoping that this opportunity will be something that's very helpful for our exporters," he said.