The launch ceremony of the 2026 National Silk Road E-commerce Selection Month takes place in Shanghai on Nov 7. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The 2026 National Silk Road E-commerce Selection Month opened on Nov 7 in Shanghai's Hongqiao International Central Business District, aiming to help businesses from partner countries tap into the Chinese market.
The launch, held alongside the Silk Road E-Commerce Promotion Conference on Cooperation, Innovation and Development, gathered more than 260 representatives from 15 countries and international organizations to explore new opportunities for cross-border e-commerce collaboration.
The monthlong program features online shopping promotions and product livestreams. At the event, Chinese e-commerce platforms and overseas companies reached 12 preliminary cooperation agreements.
In 2025, both goods trade and services trade in Hongqiao each exceeded 100 billion yuan ($15 billion). The district ranked first in Shanghai in both cross-border e-commerce import order volume and transaction value for the third consecutive year. Trade with Silk Road e-commerce partner countries reached 20.48 billion yuan, up 20.9 percent year-on-year, marking three consecutive years of double-digit growth.
Building on this momentum, Hongqiao is piloting innovative approaches to regulatory and professional services. A digital supervision system developed by Shanghai Customs is being tested first in the district. By using blockchain-based data sharing and automated checks, it has improved logistics and delivery efficiency by 16.1 percent and reduced the overall cost of parcels leaving the zone by 50 percent. The model has since been replicated across Shanghai.
During the conference, Hongqiao also introduced its legal services platform for Silk Road e-commerce, supported by nearly 200 local legal service institutions. The platform provides professional service matching, risk prevention, and commercial dispute resolution.
