"With the development of the real economy as the core, the online Pakistani national pavilion on China's e-commerce platform is expected to support Pakistan's physical production, logistics and creation capabilities. This could be materialised by making use of online communication, education and advertising to expand the audience and shorten the distance between enterprises and consumers of China and Pakistan," Ms Ge Xiao'ou, President of Prestige International said, in an interview with Gwadar Pro. Prestige International is a Chinese company dedicated to international trade business.

In 2019, it started cooperating with Chinese e-commerce platforms JD. com and COFCO Womai. com on its national pavilion project. It currently operates 8 countries' national pavilions, including Pakistan, the Philippines, Laos, etc. Since its opening in December 2021, the Pakistani national pavilion on JD. com has expanded its categories from zero to 72 products, covering a number of basic areas of people's livelihood such as grain and oil flavoring, casual snacks, tea brewing and drinking. Pakistani products are highly popular among Chinese online consumers. Ge revealed that this March the total number of purchase orders for a biscuit was 2.8 million, ranking high among similar products in all national pavilions. 

Ge added, "we will continue to increase the categories of products with Pakistani characteristics. At present, we are preparing to introduce pine nuts, jewelry, handmade carpets and other products that show the national customs of Pakistan in an all-round way." The online national pavilion project combines online retail and offline wholesale to build full-channel market penetration. As a permanent import expo online and offline, it provides overseas brands and products with as much Chinese customer base as possible through cooperation with China's largest e-commerce retailers, wholesale markets, food processors, manufacturers, and traders.

Ge explained that the current limitations for the development of online Pakistani national pavilion are cultural differences, lack of awareness of Pakistani products among Chinese consumers, mismatch between production and packaging technology of the products and local policies and regulations. She termed it a long and arduous process and hoped for cooperation from more platforms to meet their knowledge content release so that more consumers could understand the product types and advantages of Pakistan. Last month, China and Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on E-commerce Cooperation.

The cooperation between China and Pakistan in the field of e-commerce is comprehensive, ranging from livelihood industries to cultural exchanges, as well as digital economy, financial cooperation, infrastructure, and humanitarian projects, which can be realized through online channels. China's e-commerce market is huge and has the potential to expand bilateral trade with Pakistan. Ge believes that the establishment of Pakistani national pavilion on China's e-commerce platforms will help further strengthen cooperation in areas such as online payment systems, logistics, warehousing, and customs facilitation, and promote cooperation between micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups.

The development of e-commerce in China is in line with the needs of China's economic development through practice. It not only promotes the improvement of production capacity, but also meets the needs of consumers and even generates new demands, becoming a way of life. According to Ge, the Chinese e-commerce model is innovative and can be replicated.  "We can use our development experience to help other countries create more job opportunities in the process of overseas e-commerce business development and improve the ability of economic development," she added.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP