Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the “Announcement on Further Strengthening the Supervision of Recalls of Cross-Border E-commerce Retail Imported Foods.”
The introduction of this policy not only builds a solid “safety wall” for consumers, but also brings structural opportunities to the A-share cross-border e-commerce sector.
The core of this new regulation is “responsibility for each person and supervision of the entire chain.”
Taking the “domestic recall subject” as a breakthrough, a three-level responsibility system of “enterprise-platform-supervision” was built.
Cross-border e-commerce companies need to designate domestic partners to handle recalls, while platforms must fulfill their supervisory responsibilities and take “blacklist” measures against companies that refuse to fulfill their responsibilities.
This move is like delineating a clear “responsibility field” for the industry, effectively solving the regulatory blind spot problem caused by companies registered overseas in the past.
From the perspective of benefit sectors, leading cross-border e-commerce companies will fully release compliance dividends and improve performance flexibility.
For example, Anker Innovation (300866), as a benchmark for consumer electronics overseas, has a complete overseas warehouse layout. As the proportion of return costs decreases, profit margins will directly increase.
Zhiou Technology (301376), as the leading cross-border home furnishing company in Europe, has a high return rate for large items. After new regulations reduce return shipping costs, the gross profit margin is expected to improve by 1-2 percentage points.
ZAFUL and other brands of clothing owned by Cross-border Tong (002640) have high return rates. The policy has alleviated the pressure of unsalable goods, and inventory turnover efficiency can be improved.
Cross-border logistics service providers will also usher in new growth points.
The return tax exemption policy will stimulate a surge in cross-border logistics demand.
Huamao Logistics (603128) undertakes orders from leading platforms such as Temu and SHEIN, and its return logistics business volume is expected to increase by more than 30%.
Sinotrans (601598) has an overseas warehouse network covering 50+ countries and has significant advantages in return customs clearance efficiency. It is expected to undertake more increments after the policy is implemented.
The ecological value of cross-border e-commerce platforms will also be revalued.
The Chinagoods platform of Small Commodity City (600415) serves over one million merchants. The optimization of the return policy will increase the activity of small and medium-sized sellers, and commission income is expected to increase by 15%.
Focus Technology (002315)’s Made in China network B-side merchants’ compliance costs have been reduced, their willingness to pay has increased, and their subscription revenue may be breakthrough.
Supply chain service providers with digital capabilities will seize the opportunity.
The AI intelligent sorting system of Jihong Co., Ltd. (002803) has improved the efficiency of returning goods processing, and the overseas warehouse utilization rate has increased to 85%.
Liaison Interactive (002280)’s Newegg platform is connected to the new regulatory system, and the secondary sales cycle of returned goods has been shortened by 40%.
In the long run, this policy will promote the cross-border e-commerce industry to shift from “barbaric growth” to refined operations.
According to customs statistics, the scale of cross-border e-commerce retail imports will exceed 800 billion yuan in 2025, but the return rate is as high as 12% – 15%.
After the implementation of the new regulations, it is expected that the overall return cost of the industry will drop by 20% – 30%, and the market share of compliant companies is expected to increase by 5 – 8 percentage points.
Investors need to pay attention to the company’s overseas warehouse layout, digital management capabilities and compliance records, and be wary of potential risks in companies with high inventory and low turnover.
In short, the new cross-border e-commerce regulations are both a challenge and an opportunity.
Under the guidance of policies, companies with core competitiveness will accelerate market integration and create long-term value for investors.
It is recommended that investors pay attention to the fundamental changes in the above-mentioned targets and seize the structural opportunities in the process of industry standardization.
