The State Council – China's Cabinet --  announced its approval for the construction of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones in 24 more cities on Dec 24, according to officials. 

They said that Quanzhou in southeastern Fujian province was named among the fourth batch of cities to receive state approval for cross-border e-commerce pilot zones in China. 

According to officials, the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone project will learn from the experiences of the first three batches of comprehensive pilot zones -- and implement trial exemptions of value-added tax and consumption tax on cross-border e-commerce retail exports. 

The zone will actively carry out innovation programs, promote industrial transformation and upgrades and facilitate international trade liberalization and business structure innovation. This will be to explore new methods to promote the healthy development of cross-border e-commerce and high-quality trade development in China. 

Quanzhou is a coastal city relying largely on foreign trade industry. In recent years, the city has accelerated the transformation of its government functions and established a more open economic system. 

The municipal government has attached great importance to the development of e-commerce. It has launched preferential policies and built business platforms to support the emerging e-commerce industry. 

Officials said the business platforms, which include a cross-border public services platform and the East China Sea cross-border e-commerce ecosystem, have gradually improved Quanzhou's cross-border e-commerce industry over the past few years. 

Quanzhou government’s continued efforts have also boosted the transformation and upgrading of traditional local industries such as textiles, clothing and footwear. 

In 2018, for the first time Quanzhou was listed as one of the China's top 20 cities for cross-border e-commerce export development. 

With a strong industrial foundation and a comprehensive supply chain, it has become one of the most high-profile cities in the domestic cross-border e-commerce industry. 

The annual volume of courier orders in 2018 reached 972 million, an increase of 30.65 percent year-on-year. Customs declaration exports amounted to 52.892 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 128.6 percent, ranking first in the province. 

Officials said there are currently 35 cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones in the country.