Epec makes waves in industrial products trade

Global.epec.com, an international online marketplace for industrial and energy products, has reached an accumulated transaction amount of $13.5 billion in the past two years since its launch in 2017, and has served as a bridge that connects trade in industrial products produced in countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Some 125 suppliers and 141 purchasers from the 34 countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative have registered on the platform as of March 10, since it was first launched by China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, also known as Sinopec, two years ago.

The accumulated industrial products import and export trade among enterprises with businesses involved along the route has reached $3.74 billion, accounting for 27.7 percent of the platform's total volume, it said.

Enterprise import and export trade with the United Arab Emirates reached $710 million in the past two years and with India and Indonesia $270 million and $93 million respectively. The trade included products like seamless steel pipes and construction machinery. The platform has attracted more than 1,222 online suppliers and covers 9,735 online products, said the company.

Epec launched its global website in English on April 18, 2017, followed by the Russian and Spanish versions on March 16, 2018.

Committed to promoting trade in BRICS countries, the Epec platform was also endorsed as the e-commerce platform of industrial products for the BRICS nations by the BRICS Business Council in 2017.

It signed an agreement with Apex-Brasil, the Brazilian trade and investment promotion agency, last year for purchase of oil and chemical products, electromechanical equipment, coal and other materials and to establish a cooperative partnership to jointly promote quality products and services in Brazil and expand business opportunities of Brazilian enterprises in China, through the Epec platform. The contract value has since reached $45.6 billion, it said.

With a broader presence worldwide, many companies worldwide are showing interest in joining Global Epec to sell or buy industrial products. Insider believes the platform is in accordance with the country's sustainable high economic growth.

Wan Donghui, deputy secretary-general of the China Electronic Commerce Association, said earlier that Epec, part of Sinopec's efforts to transform itself into a market-oriented enterprise, is expected to get more opportunities to serve as a bridge connecting the domestic and the international market, while further diversifying the company's business and enhancing its profitability.

The global website of Epec.com, aiming to introduce China's best products to the outside world and help connect trade chains worldwide, has been built along the lines of Sinopec's domestic industrial product system, which currently sees millions of products in coal, steel, petrochemicals and oil equipment available on the platform.

Sinopec's domestic Epec has enabled deals worth 358 billion yuan ($53.3 billion) by March 2019, since its launch in 2015. Some 59,000 enterprises have registered on Epec, and most of the purchases do not involve the Sinopec group, it said.