Daily Times

BEIJING: China and Pakistan will continue to cooperate in cross-border e-commerce to create more prosperity and happiness between the two countries, said Badar U Zaman, Commercial Counsellor of the Pakistan Embassy in China.

Cross-border e-commerce is one of the most important areas for China and Pakistan to achieve success and forge ahead, he recently highlighted.

China attaches great importance to strengthening cross-border e-commerce cooperation with overseas markets.

Due to the pandemic, the proportion of online transactions in any market where e-commerce is not yet mature will continue to grow rapidly. As per local trade resources, Pakistan is the 46th largest market for e-Commerce with a revenue of US$4 billion in 2020, China Economic Net (CEN) reported.

Statista, a German market and consumer data provider, predicts that Pakistan’s e-commerce market is projected to generate US$7.666 billion in revenue in 2022.

Efficient logistics is a necessary condition for the development of e-commerce. Tim Yao, chairman of Captain Express Pakistan Pvt Ltd (CPEX for short and the brand also), a subsidy of Captain International Express (Hk) Co Ltd, said in a recent interview that Pakistan’s largest express company delivers about 300 million packages a year, but compared with Pakistan’s population of more than 220 million, there is still a great potential to be tapped.

With the explosive growth of e-commerce in Pakistan, the Pakistani express industry will usher in a dividend period. At the same time, the demand for traditional B2B trade is still booming. However, whether it is a C-end or a B-end business, the last-mile delivery is the lifeline of the logistics service chain.

Deeply engaged in the sea and air logistics in the South Asian market for more than a decade, CPEX has been targeting the huge potential of Pakistan’s express industry and has made many years of efforts to contribute to Pakistan’s cross-border e-commerce.

Express delivery industry requires heavy investment, including human, material and financial input. Currently, CPEX orders have exceeded 10,000 per day, covering 8 major cities in Pakistan, with more than 60 employees, predominantly on e-commerce platforms and SF Express. International products originating from China can be guaranteed to be delivered from China to Pakistani recipients within 7 days (4 days at the earliest), and logistics information can be checked on the website. It also provides local express delivery in Pakistan and international express delivery services for export from Pakistan. Yao emphasised that CPEX’s back-office system is an industry leader in money settlement, especially for the management of COD accounts.

For Pakistan inland express, it combines air and land transportation to transfer parcels. For cross-border business, CPEX mainly uses air transport to operate direct cargo charter flights from China to Pakistan. Tim explained, “Amazon began recruiting Pakistani merchants in May last year, which signals that the Pakistani e-commerce currently in the development stage will gradually take shape.”  As the cross-border logistics service provider of DARAZ, the largest cross-border e-commerce platform in Pakistan, CPEX not only provides local business support to Pakistani enterprises, but also intends to provide intelligent supply chain solutions to help Pakistani enterprises obtain e-commerce business opportunities.

Due to the spread of the epidemic, Pakistani consumers have further developed the habit of online shopping, followed by an increase in air freight. Through its independent research and development of ERP logistics systems, CPEX also provides the platform and offline customers with a price 15% lower than the market. With a vision to do something tangible about China-Pakistan trade, Tim believes only when consumers get more benefits, can they have the motivation to spend and promote the vigorous development of the e-commerce industry.

To realise logistics digital visualisation and create green intelligent logistics, China International Marine Containers (Group) Co., Ltd (CIMC), the parent company of CPEX, has developed a transport vehicle named smart tray, which has been widely used in the rubber, jam, auto parts and spare parts industry.

“This smart tray has already entered Pakistan last month. We are currently planning to utilise it to transport Pakistani exports to Thailand.” Tim concluded.