Not long ago, in the cargo area of Shenyang Taoxian International Airport, a British shorthair cat took a flight to Seoul, South Korea, after undergoing a series of procedures such as chip implantation, immune certification, antibody testing, and customs inspection. This was the first live pet export business in the country declared under the cross-border e-commerce B2B direct export (9710) model. It also opened a new pet breeding export track for Liaoning’s cross-border e-commerce.
At almost the same time, Liaoning specialty products such as Benxi edible oil, Fuxin agate jewelry, and Fushun wax products also entered overseas markets through cross-border e-commerce channels.
Data show that in the first quarter of 2026, Liaoning’s cross-border e-commerce imports and exports increased by 46.6% year-on-year. There were more than 400 new cross-border e-commerce companies in the province, and many prefectures and cities achieved breakthroughs in cross-border e-commerce business “from 0 to 1”.
As a northeastern province that has long been known for its heavy industry, the popularity of Liaoning’s cross-border e-commerce is no accident. A large number of “first order” breakthroughs constitute an intuitive footnote to the growth of the industry: In the Wanzhong Yuncang Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park in the Dalian area of Liaoning Free Trade Zone, 1,920 boxes of frozen garlic with a total weight of about 7.3 tons
After successfully completing the “9710” cross-border e-commerce customs clearance procedures, the Rong Vermicelli Scallops were shipped to the North American market. This is the first batch of aquatic products exported from Dalian under the “9710” model. The customs clearance time is 2 days faster than traditional trade methods, which fully guarantees the freshness of aquatic products and provides new ideas for local aquatic products companies to go overseas.
Since this year, various “first orders” have been launched in many cities in Liaoning: Yingkou launched the province’s first “9610+TIR” export business, Tieling’s “9710” and “9810” two major models achieved “double-zero breakthroughs”, and Panjin’s intangible cultural heritage reeds were exported through cross-border e-commerce for the first time… More and more Liaoning specialty products are going overseas relying on cross-border e-commerce, driving related industries to continue to heat up.
With the smooth implementation of the live pet export business, Liaoning’s long-term pet breeding industry has also opened up a new channel to the international market. Since the relevant trading center was opened in April 2026, a total of more than 8,500 pets have been shipped by air, and the industry’s vitality continues to explode.
The strong industrial momentum has also promoted the continuous upgrading of cross-border e-commerce carriers. In the first quarter of this year alone, Dalian Wanzhong Yuncang Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park incubated a cumulative incubation of cross-border e-commerce import and export increments of 25 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of more than ten times, completing the role transformation from a cross-border e-commerce import display and exhibition base to a cross-border e-commerce comprehensive service carrier.
As of the first quarter of 2026, Liaoning Province has built 43 provincial-level cross-border e-commerce industrial parks, with more than 700 companies settled in it; the three cities of Shenyang, Dalian and Yingkou have achieved
Four cross-border e-commerce models are fully covered, and the remaining 11 cities and the Shenfu Demonstration Zone cover 2 to 3 models. Six cities, including Benxi, Jinzhou, Tieling, and Chaoyang, have successively completed their first cross-border e-commerce orders. A total of more than 500 cross-border e-commerce cultivation and docking activities have been carried out at the provincial, municipal and county levels.
The rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce in Liaoning is essentially the result of policy promotion and the need for industrial upgrading.
For a long time, Liaoning’s foreign trade structure has been dominated by industrial products, with equipment manufacturing, metallurgy, petrochemicals and other industries occupying a leading position in exports. Commodity trade is the main way for enterprises to participate in the global market. With the restructuring of global supply chains and the rise of digital trade, more and more enterprises have realized that it is difficult to meet future growth needs solely by relying on traditional foreign trade channels.
In Xingcheng, an important national swimwear industry base, the local annual output of swimwear exceeds 170 million pieces. In the past, companies mainly relied on foreign trade orders and international brand OEMs. The profit of a swimsuit was only a few yuan. After selling directly to consumers through cross-border e-commerce, the profit margin can be increased several times.
The greatest significance of cross-border e-commerce is to reconstruct the value distribution system of the industrial chain, shorten the chain between the manufacturing end and the consumer end, and give Liaoning enterprises the opportunity to transform from mere producers to brand operators.
At the policy level, in February 2026, Liaoning held a working conference to promote the accelerated development of cross-border e-commerce, which clearly regarded cross-border e-commerce as an important path to cultivate new growth points of foreign trade. Subsequently, relevant action plans and 9 supporting policies were intensively introduced, and 21 provincial (central) departments formed the cross-border e-commerce
The special work team coordinates to solve the difficulties that block collaborative development; at the industrial level, Liaoning focuses on 22 advantageous industrial clusters and specialty products, and cultivates 10 cross-border e-commerce characteristic industry belts such as textiles and apparel, auto parts, and specialty agricultural products, and realizes the deep binding of industrial supply chains and cross-border channels.
In Xiliu Town, Haicheng City, relying on the local textile and apparel industry cluster, local apparel companies have gotten rid of the dilemma of low-price OEM and homogenization of goods, and realized two-way empowerment of “source industry belt + new cross-border channels”, and “one-stop” products
“Style” goes overseas and currently accounts for 30% of the global ski wear market; in the Xiaobeihe socks industry belt in Liaoyang, more and more factories have begun to establish their own brands through third-party cross-border e-commerce platforms, directly contacting overseas consumers for the first time, mastering market feedback and brand pricing power, and breaking the shackles of low-price competition.
Data show that in 2025, the cross-border e-commerce import and export volume of Liaoning Province will increase by 16.3% year-on-year, which is 18.3 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the province’s total import and export of goods trade. The growth rate is considerable. However, compared with strong cross-border e-commerce provinces such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Fujian, Liaoning is still in the catching-up stage.
At present, the proportion of cross-border e-commerce in Liaoning’s total foreign trade is still lower than the national average. Although a large number of companies have registered for cross-border e-commerce business, the proportion of companies that have actually formed stable orders and independent brands is not high. Compared with mature cross-border e-commerce clusters such as Yiwu, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou, Liaoning still has obvious shortcomings in professional services such as brand services, digital marketing, overseas compliance, and intellectual property protection.
In June 2026, the “Liaoning Goods Cross-Sea” cross-border e-commerce legal service station was officially established to provide enterprises with professional services such as overseas intellectual property protection and international compliance consulting, marking that Liaoning’s cross-border e-commerce ecosystem is accelerating the chain replenishment.
Industry insiders pointed out that the first stage of cross-border e-commerce development in Liaoning is to sell products, and the second stage is to build brands. Currently, most companies are still stuck in the first stage. Their advantages mainly come from manufacturing capabilities and supply chain efficiency, rather than brand premiums.
Relevant department plans show that from 2026 to 2028, Liaoning will continue to increase the layout of overseas warehouses, incubate characteristic industrial belts, and cultivate local cross-border brands, link the cross-border resources of the three northeastern provinces, rely on geographical advantages and RCEP economic and trade dividends, deeply cultivate the Northeast and Southeast Asian markets, and expand China-Europe cross-border e-commerce freight channels.
In the next three to five years, the core development goal of Liaoning’s cross-border e-commerce will shift from expanding the number of operating entities to cultivating the “Liao Zihao” brand with global influence. The transformation from “selling Liaoning products” to “building a global brand” has just begun.
