Against the backdrop of intensifying global trade frictions and accumulating tariff barriers, Beijing's foreign trade enterprises are adopting "innovation" as their core strategy to break through the impasse, actively embracing new trade avenues—by restructuring global supply chains and exploring diversified cross-border integration models, they are accelerating the transition from the traditional path of "OEM manufacturing" to high-quality development characterized by "independent R&D + global branding," steadily seizing development opportunities amidst complex changes. The "15th Five-Year Plan" recommendations provide clear guidance, stating that "promoting innovative trade development and accelerating the construction of a strong trading nation" are core tasks for this period. This directive compels foreign trade development to break free from traditional frameworks and leap towards a new paradigm defined by "high-tech empowerment, high-efficiency operation, and high-quality supply." As the national center for scientific and technological innovation and a benchmark city for the digital economy, Beijing naturally becomes the core source and practical highland for this transformation wave.
Simultaneously, the integrated layout of domestic and foreign trade has become a "stabilizer" and "new engine" for Beijing's foreign trade enterprises to resist market risks and expand growth space. A recent investigation into local digital economy leaders such as JD.com, Beijing Zhidemai Technology Co.,Ltd., and Douyin, as well as the Beijing Digital Economy Enterprise Overseas Innovation Service Base, revealed that these entities are fully leveraging Beijing's unique advantages in digital technology, content ecosystems, and supply chain integration. Through various measures including technological empowerment, ecosystem building, and resource matching, they are paving the way for foreign trade enterprise transformation, solving difficulties, and continuously injecting strong and enduring new qualitative momentum into Beijing's high-quality development in both domestic and foreign trade.
As a digital consumer service enterprise driven by AI and content, the international exploration of Beijing Zhidemai Technology Co.,Ltd. provides a unique case study for how Beijing's digital economy enterprises empower cross-border trade. Sun Yangke, head of the overseas business department at Beijing Zhidemai Technology Co.,Ltd., stated that unlike traditional cross-border e-commerce focused on commodity transactions, the company's overseas strategy emphasizes building localized content-driven consumption platforms. By establishing content production and consumer decision-making mechanisms, they help brands achieve long-term sustainable development. "As overseas market competition intensifies, mere price advantages and channel coverage can no longer support long-term brand development. Stable content expression and continuous user communication have become the core competitiveness," Sun explained. Beijing Zhidemai Technology Co.,Ltd. is replicating its mature domestic "SmZDM" product format and operational model overseas, optimizing it for local market conditions. It has already assisted partners in launching localized applications in Thailand and Indonesia, with plans to accelerate deployment in other potential Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries.
In terms of service models, Beijing Zhidemai Technology Co.,Ltd. utilizes SaaS solutions, coupled with flight training and remote support mechanisms, to export product setup and operational methodologies to overseas partners, supporting them in building content-driven consumption platforms similar to "SmZDM" locally. Concurrently, the company is extending its mature data capabilities productized for overseas markets; for example, embedding its "ZhiData" technology module into the overall system to support content platform analysis and optimization, helping overseas platforms more accurately match user needs with brand supply.
Beijing Zhidemai Technology Co.,Ltd.'s exploration reflects the evolving role of Beijing's digital economy enterprises in the new phase of cross-border e-commerce. Enterprises are no longer merely participants in the commodity circulation channel but are becoming service-oriented platforms connecting domestic industries with global markets through content, data, and technological capabilities. In recent years, JD.com has also continuously increased its efforts in international development. In November 2024, JD.com's cross-border e-commerce platform, JD Worldwide, announced the addition of "Overseas Free Shipping Zones" for Malaysia and Thailand, launching independent sites for these two locations. In December, JD Logistics announced plans to comprehensively build an overseas warehouse and delivery network guaranteeing "2-3 day delivery," currently operating over 100 overseas warehouses, bonded warehouses, and direct mail warehouses globally. Presently, JD Worldwide's official direct shipping covers 36 countries worldwide, with 10 country-specific sites and 1 comprehensive overseas site launched, synchronously supplying a rich array of products across categories like home appliances, electronics, food, and cosmetics to overseas markets.
Since the launch of JD.com's 11.11 Grand Sale this year, key markets covered by JD Worldwide, including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia, have seen both gross merchandise value and order volume increase by over 100% year-on-year. In the 13 countries covered by the upgraded cross-border free shipping service, GMV growth exceeded 300% year-on-year, and the number of platform users placing orders surged by over 400% year-on-year. Meanwhile, JD.com is injecting new vitality into cross-border trade with AI technology. Through innovative applications like AI customer service and AI digital human live streaming, it is opening the "traffic gate" for merchants engaged in cross-border trade. During product listing, merchants need only upload a product image or input keywords; AI can then automatically generate a complete set of product information, including multi-lingual descriptions and parameter specifications, compressing a process that originally took 60 minutes down to as little as 60 seconds. On the customer service front, AI-powered automatic reception achieves zero-delay, 24/7 response, accurately answering overseas customer inquiries and effectively solving communication challenges caused by language barriers and time zone differences in cross-border trade.
As the national scientific and technological innovation center, Beijing is empowering and upgrading cross-border trade with AI technology, promoting the deep integration of local digital economy strengths with foreign trade development. Today, AI innovations originating from Beijing have deeply penetrated the entire chain of cross-border e-commerce operations, supply chain management, and consumer services. These applications are not only widely implemented in the domestic e-commerce market but also precisely address traditional pain points in cross-border business, such as language barriers, delayed responses, and complex supply chain coordination. Leveraging Beijing's technological accumulation and industrial cluster advantages in artificial intelligence, these AI applications are building an efficient and intelligent digital support system for local foreign trade enterprises expanding overseas. This allows "Beijing Intelligence" and "Beijing Services" to connect more smoothly with global markets through digital pathways, becoming a crucial engine for the high-quality development of Beijing's new qualitative foreign trade.
As the national scientific and technological innovation center, Beijing possesses a strong industrial foundation in areas like artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and smart hardware. The overseas expansion of these digital ecosystems is a vital part of promoting the internationalization of China's digital industry, the latest measure in implementing the national innovation-driven development strategy, and a key layout in response to the Belt and Road Initiative and the construction of the "Digital Silk Road." In July 2024, guided by the national Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and supported by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, the nation's first Digital Ecosystem Overseas Innovation Service Base—the Beijing Digital Economy Enterprise Overseas Innovation Service Base—was officially established in Daxing District. "We hope to provide better services for enterprises going global, reduce transaction costs, provide platform resources, and collaborate with relevant departments and institutions to formulate superior policies," said Li Yulong, Deputy General Manager of the Beijing Digital Economy Enterprise Overseas Innovation Service Base.
The Overseas Base spans approximately 400,000 square meters and is constructing a "1+3+N" new pattern for international digital economy cooperation. This includes one new highland for two-way investment cooperation following a "Two Countries, Twin Parks" model, three core facilities, and "N" ecological services covering the entire lifecycle of digital economy enterprises expanding overseas. According to information from the Beijing Daxing District People's Government website, the Base has a clear positioning: it is both a new growth pole for the construction of Beijing's information software industrial cluster and an important platform for high-level opening and cooperation in the national digital economy. It also serves as a policy highland, regulatory highland, service highland, and market highland for enterprises on their overseas journey. Since its establishment, the Base has adhered to a two-pronged approach of "Bringing In" and "Going Global," coordinating with the China-Japan Demonstration Zone to actively expand its overseas market footprint, achieving remarkable results.
In terms of high-level "Bringing In," the Base continues to deepen international digital economy cooperation: it established a service station in Moscow, Russia, and signed a formal strategic cooperation agreement, innovatively promoting the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" cooperation model for the Sino-Russian digital economy industry; it reached strategic cooperation agreements with China Telecom's Beijing Branch and China Telecom International Limited, planning to rely on core capabilities like ecosystem cloud, AI technology, and cross-border data to help Chinese enterprises efficiently connect with high-quality overseas resources and successfully enter global markets; it actively builds bridges for international exchange, attracting a China-Africa digital economy delegation to visit Beijing, inspect the achievements of regional digital economy development firsthand, and explore cooperation opportunities for building a digital industry ecosystem together. Regarding high-quality "Going Global," the Base fully assists enterprises in deeply participating in international market exploration and competition: during the 27th Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium, the Beijing Daxing District Investment Promotion Center, leveraging the Base's platform, organized 8 influential enterprises to participate in a special promotion event for technology innovation enterprises "Sailing Out Together," collectively expanding overseas business opportunities.
Since its inception, the Overseas Base has established close cooperation mechanisms with Belt and Road partner countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Russia; it has established connections with multiple professional service teams covering fields such as law, consulting, investment, and business associations; and it has already landed digital economy projects involving industries like software development, information data services, and online games. Li Yulong stated that the Base is building an "Eight Core Services" system, creating four highlands—"Policy Innovation, Ecological Services, Overseas Orders, Compliance Supervision"—and an export-oriented industrial cluster to assist enterprises in going global. The "Eight Core Services" encompass aspects like space carrier, business opportunity information, two-way policies, ecological selection, overseas promotion, compliance assurance, brand empowerment, and international talent, acting as a bridge between government and market and creating a one-stop overseas service ecosystem.
While cross-border e-commerce opens up overseas markets, Beijing enterprises are also deepening the integrated layout of domestic and foreign trade. Adopting a strategy of "securing the basic market domestically while pursuing growth overseas," they aim to withstand global trade uncertainties. Rooted in Beijing's industrial ecosystem, JD.com, focusing on full supply chain optimization, has built a transformation foundation of "efficient fulfillment + cost optimization" for Beijing's foreign trade enterprises. Since JD.com announced on April 11 the establishment of a 200 billion yuan special procurement fund and launched the "Support Plan for Shifting from Export to Domestic Sales," it has attracted significant attention from foreign trade enterprises. A large number of companies have made inquiries through various channels, and over ten thousand enterprises have entered substantial procurement negotiation stages with JD's purchasing and sales teams.
"Jingxi Self-operated, through its 'quasi-self-operated' operational model, takes over the entire chain of work for enterprises—from product selection, online operations, marketing promotion, logistics, and distribution to customer service and after-sales—allowing enterprises to focus solely on production without requiring excessive investment in other areas," said a relevant负责人 from Jingxi. JD.com's "export to domestic sales" project helps foreign trade enterprises tap into the domestic market. "Jingxi Self-operated has already driven orders for 2,000 foreign trade enterprises exceeding 180 million orders, a threefold year-on-year increase." The aforementioned负责人 stated that by 2026, Jingxi Self-operated "hopes to win 150 million new users for JD.com and increase the number of products from around 600,000 this year to over 3 million." Over the next three years, the "goal is to enable 500,000 factories to achieve stable sales on Jingxi Self-operated, driving employment for over 5 million people."
To address the needs of foreign trade merchants, JD.com has established a "7x24" hour lead collection and feedback team for prompt handling and response; it has organized purchasing and sales teams to initiate on-site support in industrial clusters, with multiple batches of personnel going to industrial belts and merchant sites for对接; for merchants requiring store setup, JD.com also has professional teams to provide guidance, offering expedited store opening and omni-channel marketing support, among other measures. Simultaneously, JD.com launched a "Foreign Trade Quality Products" section, along with identification tags for "export to domestic sales" stores and products, providing clear guidance for consumers and consequently offering traffic倾斜 for merchants. Leveraging Beijing's profound accumulation in content ecosystems and digital technology, Douyin Group has launched full-chain services, injecting strong momentum into the transformation of foreign trade enterprises. A relevant负责人 from Douyin E-commerce stated: "The domestic market gathers a large number of high-quality foreign trade enterprises with excellent product quality. Our plan is precisely to leverage the platform's advantages to make these 'good products' seen and recognized by more people."
On April 16, Douyin Group initiated a special support plan for foreign trade quality products, integrating resources from its e-commerce, lifestyle services, and other businesses. Through measures such as establishing green channels for入驻, providing special traffic support, commission reductions, and interest-free loans to aid cash flow, it helps foreign trade merchants reduce operating costs and expand into the domestic market. Addressing the pain points of foreign trade enterprise transformation, Douyin E-commerce offers full-process入驻 support. Through exclusive green channels and dedicated merchant recruitment zones, enterprises can achieve same-day入驻 and product listing. The entry threshold for quality small and medium-sized merchants has been further lowered. According to the aforementioned负责人, relevant operational teams from Douyin E-commerce have深入 foreign trade enterprise clusters in key industrial belts, helping enterprises establish long-term sustainable store直播 systems and organizing special溯源 live streams featuring factory directors from industrial belts. Meanwhile, the platform will also formulate targeted marketing strategies for enterprises, providing one-stop services like data services and traffic support, helping them transition from being driven by foreign trade orders to being driven by domestic market demand, enabling them to adapt faster to domestic consumer needs and reduce transformation costs and risks.
In 2024, Beijing researched and formulated the "Several Measures of Beijing Municipality on Accelerating the Integrated Development of Domestic and Foreign Trade," aiming to cultivate leading enterprises in integrated domestic-foreign trade, innovate fund support policies for this integration, and further promote the integrated development level of domestic and foreign trade for Beijing enterprises. Simultaneously, eligible enterprises purchasing domestic trade credit insurance will receive a certain percentage of financial support from Beijing Municipality for the actual premiums paid, further promoting the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade for enterprises. Beijing is creating a favorable environment for the development of domestic and foreign trade through policy support and ecosystem improvement. From innovative breakthroughs under tariff impacts to the deep integration of domestic and foreign trade, Beijing enterprises are driving high-quality development in both spheres with new qualitative productive forces. Under the guidance of the "15th Five-Year Plan" recommendation to "innovatively develop digital trade," these enterprises are not only "resilient players" in the global trade transformation but are also set to become crucial forces in Beijing's construction as an international consumption center city and a global benchmark city for the digital economy.
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