Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, released a development plan for the new China (Taiyuan) Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Area on June 4.

Under the terms of the plan, the new pilot area will boost the core support functions of the Taiyuan Wusu Comprehensive Bonded Zone, the service functions of the Taiyuan International Mail Exchange Bureau and the innovation functions of Zhongding Logistics Park as well as create cross-border e-commerce industrial parks with a range of different features. 

Taiyuan Wusu Comprehensive Bonded Zone will for example accelerate the second phase of its reconstruction and expansion, develop new B2B (business-to-business), B2B2C (business-to-business-to-consumer) and O2O (online to offline) retail and sales models.

In addition, it will establish a cross-border e-commerce headquarters base, a business incubation cluster, an import and export commodity display center and an import commodity exhibition distribution center.

For its part, Taiyuan Wusu International Airport will include its surroundings in Shanxi's Transformation and Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone and establish the Taiyuan Airport Economic and Industrial Zone through its third-phase reconstruction and expansion project. Meantime, the airport will increase its international flights to build an international air cargo hub, logistics center and cargo distribution center.

The pilot area will explore innovations in the various areas of cross-border e-commerce – including initiating a foreign trade enterprises and financial institutions platform and opening a cross-border e-commerce experience store in convenience stores in Taiyuan city.

Moving forwards, Shanxi province will develop a national digital trade demonstration zone, an inland cross-border e-commerce industrial base and an important national international trade and logistics center.

It will do this through the construction of the Taiyuan cross-border e-commerce pilot area, so as to promote the high-quality growth of both Taiyuan and Shanxi.

To achieve these, the pilot area will be built in three stages, with businesses registered on the online public service platform expanding from Taiyuan city across the province.  

By 2025, the pilot area aims to have over 2,000 cross-border e-commerce businesses, establish 10 cross-border e-commerce industrial parks and achieve more than 10 billion yuan ($1.41 billion) annually in cross-border e-commerce retail import and export volumes.