Cross-border e-commerce will play increasingly important role

Elaine Chang, president of Amazon China CHINA DAILY

Elaine Chang is president of Amazon China, which is part of Amazon.com Inc, the e-commerce and cloud computing giant based in the United States.

What do you feel has been China's biggest achievement during the past five years and what is its most notable change?

In the last few years, China has maintained steady growth to help generate the global economy. There are numerous factors contributing to this rapid growth. One of the most important is the internet, as well as online businesses.

Digital technology is accelerating the integration of economic and social fields. This is speeding up China's consumption, which is undergoing rapid development in areas such as the number of internet users, mobile apps and payments.

In these sectors, China has now become the global leader.

The internet has revolutionized the economy and created more efficient ways of connecting consumers with brands, manufacturers and service providers. Digitization is driving innovation as products and services reach worldwide audiences faster than ever before.

Take cross-border e-commerce as an example. It allows us to create a new business model to bridge Chinese customers with authentic international products directly from the country of origin.

In addition, it allows Chinese manufacturers to connect with global markets, providing them with opportunities to sell worldwide, which ultimately benefits the country's economy.

What opportunities will the Belt and Road Initiative throw up for China and the rest of the world?

It has injected new energy into cross-border e-commerce with more Chinese companies expanding overseas.

By aligning with the Belt and Road Initiative, Amazon is using its global resources to help Chinese enterprises revolutionize their businesses online.

Through Amazon Global Selling, tens of thousands of Chinese customers can now sell on our websites in nine countries－the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Japan and Mexico.

In addition, Amazon's highly efficient global logistics net-work across 185 countries and regions has established an effective and convenient "Online Silk Road" for Chinese enterprises trying to reach overseas markets.

China is known as a manufacturing giant, but what will the country's "calling card" be in the future?

I think the key word is innovation. The Chinese government in 2015 announced the Made in China 2025 plan and put innovation at the core of the manufacturing industry.

By doing this, the country has encouraged innovation and used the digital economy to spur economic growth.

Naturally, this is transforming industry. We also believe innovation can make a difference when addressing the needs of customers.

Only then will it have an impact in the development of the digital economy. In fact, Chinese manufacturers are making great business progress by paying attention to product innovation, quality and customer service.

As a Fortune 500 company, which sectors do you think offer the most opportunities for development?

We remain optimistic about China's economic prospects and believe cross-border e-commerce will play an increasingly important role. Importing international brands and products via cross-border online shopping addresses the increasing demands of domestic consumers, and greatly supports the government's "supply-side structural reform".

This also injects new power and energy into the economy.

Also, China-based manufacturers are upgrading, and trying to grow their businesses and build their brands globally through cross-border e-commerce. Now, all we need to do is focus on the demands of customers and drive innovation to provide better support.

Taking imports as an example, we launched Amazon Global Store, the first of its kind for the company worldwide. Chinese consumers were able to purchase products directly from overseas Amazon locations. But we built on a Chinese language interface and payment system.

Amazon Prime China was the first membership program to provide unlimited and free cross-border delivery. This was just part of our program to help customers.