Over the past decade, cross-border e-commerce has become a new driving force for China’s high-quality economic development. Customs data shows that in 2024, China’s cross-border e-commerce exports reached 2.15 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.9%, and maintained a year-on-year growth of 11.6% in the first half of 2025. The industry has now moved from a crude “global trade” model to a critical transformation period focused on quality improvement, and innovation is the core driving force of this transformation.
Against this backdrop, Forbes China, in partnership with Amazon Global Selling, launched the “2026 Forbes China New Generation Cross-Border E-commerce 30 Selection,” focusing on emerging forces in the industry. Currently, with accelerated technological iteration and profound supply chain changes, consumers are increasingly demanding both quality and value for money. This is especially true for Generation Z consumers, whose requirements for product personalization and user experience continue to rise.
</ … This shift has transformed innovation from a mere "bonus" for businesses into a "necessity" for survival. Traditional cost-effectiveness-based operating models are gradually becoming ineffective, while high-value-added products and new brands are becoming crucial for businesses to acquire new growth. A new generation of cross-border e-commerce entrepreneurs is emerging. As digital natives, they excel at applying AI, data analytics, and other technologies to the entire production and operation chain. On the supply chain side, they are restructuring traditional processes to quickly respond to market changes with a flexible supply chain; on the product side, they are creating differentiated products through technological innovation and design to accurately match global personalized needs; on the operations side, they are improving efficiency through data-driven decision-making and establishing a sustainable growth model. This selection is open to founders, actual controllers, and core personnel of innovative cross-border e-commerce companies in mainland China, and registration is now officially open. The event will combine the authoritative media resources of Forbes China with the global perspective of Amazon Global Selling to objectively present the young forces in the cross-border e-commerce sector, showcasing their growth paths and core characteristics. Its core objective is to help the industry build a new generation of leaders for the future and provide valuable insights for more Chinese companies committed to global brand building. Forbes, founded in New York in 1917 and entering China in 2003, has become an industry benchmark with its fair and impartial rankings, continuously inspiring entrepreneurs to create business value. Amazon Global Selling entered China in 2015 and has opened 20 overseas marketplaces, serving hundreds of thousands of Chinese sellers and helping businesses reach hundreds of millions of active users and over 8 million high-quality enterprise clients worldwide. This collaboration between the two platforms enhances the authority and influence of the selection process and provides a broader platform for resource sharing for the selected participants. With AI empowering the entire supply chain, the global expansion of cross-border e-commerce brands is accelerating, and this selection will inject new vitality into the industry's development, driving the Chinese cross-border e-commerce industry to achieve even greater success in the global market.
