How e-commerce can facilitate WTO’s vision and empower underserved communities

As ministers and senior officials from around the world met in Abu Dhabi for the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13), I was honoured to attend as a member of the WTO Director-General Business Advisory Group and speak on the ‘Re-globalising trade for people and the planet’ panel on February 27.

The panel focused on the theme closest to my heart – the power of cross-border e-commerce. As a 30-year veteran of the e-commerce industry, I’ve come to see how much e-commerce can contribute not only to a country’s greater economy, but also change ordinary lives down at the grassroots level by empowering individual sellers through a more inclusive system.

It’s a personal journey for me as well. I started out in the e-commerce industry in China in 1999, two years before it joined the WTO in 2001. It was an exciting and transformative time for China, and the whole world was changing with the spread of the internet.

On this wave of excitement, I founded the e-commerce website Joyo.com in 1999, followed by my present company, DHgate.com, in 2004. Since then, DHGATE Group has been at the forefront of e-commerce, connecting millions of entrepreneurs with suppliers/manufacturers in China.

Jump forward 20 years, and China’s cross-border e-commerce market reached USD 330 million last year. Though this sector is still small compared to others, it also grew 15.6 per cent year-on-year – much faster than any other kind of trade.

Today, as Chinese e-commerce booms, I am proud to represent China and share my own experiences on the industry frontlines as part of the WTO’s 10-member Business Advisory Group, established by WTO director general Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to improve engagement with businesses and facilitate dialogue on relevant issues in the complex multilateral trade landscape.

As the founder of DHGATE Group, I consistently draw attention to the issue that cross border e-commerce is no longer just about large companies or international conglomerates. With advances in the digital economy and global logistics networks, many of our customers at DHgate are micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) operating through digital storefronts.

The widespread use of social media and digital payments has further opened the door to micro-entrepreneurs, reaching and uplifting underserved communities like women, students, and people who work outside a traditional workplace.

In what was a challenge five years ago, and impossible nearly a decade ago, these individuals can run a global e-commerce business with the help of social media like WeChat, TikTok and Instagram; and social commerce platforms like DHGATE Group’s MyyShop from any location.

Recognising this trend, I have pushed forward several initiatives and programmes, such as online and offline workshops, to help our customers reach their potential. Since launching the APEC Cross-Border E-commerce Training programme (APEC CBET) in 2014 and the APEC Women Connect (AWC) initiative in 2016, we’ve trained over 500,000 MSMEs – of which 40 per cent are female-led – to ensure their ongoing success and integration into the global e-commerce community.

AWC has been recognised and endorsed by the UN, APEC and G20 members as a way to empower women through inspirational sharing, practical learning, effective recognition and awards. Thanks to the expansion of global trade, shipping and logistics, customers and suppliers can now live and work anywhere in the world.

Groundbreaking advancements in AI and technology will also further empower e-commerce MSMEs by automating and streamlining many of their back-end operational needs, offering valuable insights through data collection, assisting in product design, and in turn scaling through cost-effective processes like 3D printing.

At the same time, at DHgate we are aware of the rise of new complexities and challenges in international trade – particularly the fragmentation or de-globalisation of global trade that can threaten many of these gains. MSMEs and female entrepreneurs in developing and least developed countries (LDCs) are particularly vulnerable.

Other challenges that seek to reverse the past two decades of global progress include limited market access due to regulatory barriers, limited supply chain infrastructure, limited access to financing for MSMEs, and the ongoing digital divide between rich and poor in some countries.

I am hopeful that the WTO continues to appreciate the promise of e-commerce. In 2022, its members reached a deal to extend a moratorium on e-commerce duties, and I would recommend a permanent ban on these kinds of digital barriers that are expensive and time-consuming for governments, and potentially fatal to MSMEs and small entrepreneurs.

The WTO plays a vital role as the bridge connecting global resources, investment, and industry with MSMEs, female entrepreneurs, and collaborative communities. Capacity-building tools that foster digital inclusion and policies that encourage timely cross-border and barrier-free trade are two ways to ensure that the trend of re-globalisation continues, for the benefit of members everywhere.

Diane Wang is the founder, chairperson, and CEO of DHGATE Group and a member of the WTO Director-General Business Advisory Group. Founded in 2004, DHgate.com is a leading cross-border B2B e-commerce marketplace that serves 59.6 million buyers from 225 countries and regions by connecting them to 2.54 million sellers. In 2020, DHGATE Group launched the social commerce SaaS platform MyyShop.