Recently, the State Council approved of 27 cities and regions, including Nanchong and Meishan in Sichuan Province, establishing cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot areas. So far, Sichuan is home to six cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot areas, the fifth largest number nationwide. 
    Cross-border e-commerce is considered one of the approaches to boosting foreign trade. According to relevant heads from Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce, such areas focus on carrying out pilot trials for technical standards, business process, supervision models and informatization construction of transactions, payment, logistics, customs clearance, tax refund and exchange settlement of cross-border e-commerce. They are striving to solve deep-seated and institutional problems of the development of cross-border e-commerce through institutional, management and service innovation, and create complete industrial and ecological chains of cross-border e-commerce. 
    Over recent years, Sichuan has achieved rapid and sound development in cross-border e-commerce, making itself a frontrunner of central and western China in this regard. Monitoring data show that in 2021, the transaction volume of Sichuan's cross-border e-commerce reached 70.09 billion yuan, hitting a record high with a 53.8% increase year on year, 38.8 percentage points higher than the national growth rate. 
    By now, there are nearly 2,300 filed cross-border e-commerce companies in Sichuan, together with rapidly gathering market entities. When it comes to the model of business forms, new consumption scenarios such as "store-warehouse integration + fast delivery", "No. 1 airport", and the first Chemist Warehouse opened in western China emerged. In particular, the new brand promotion model of "cross-border e-commerce + competitive industries + international livestreamers" made its debut, marking a breakthrough in both advertising products by a large number of foreign livestreamers and launching livestreaming to reach overseas market. Therefore, a new digital model or approach of "produced, made and created in Sichuan" was formed. 
    Joining the list of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot areas after Chengdu, Luzhou, Deyang and Mianyang, in what fields will Nanchong and Meishan make breakthroughs? 
    According to the relevant head from Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce, the total volume of Nanchong's imported and exported goods reached 5.207 billion yuan in 2021, ranking eighth in the province with a rise of 46.2% year on year. For the next step, Nanchong will stimulate the transformation and upgrading of "inbound manufacturing" with "outbound demand", guide existing industrial clusters in such fields as electronic information, oil-gas-chemical industry, autos and auto parts, and silk spinning and clothing to actively adapt to the changes of digitization, and attract high-quality manufacturing enterprises to settle in Nanchong by leveraging the gathering role of the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot area. 
    In 2021, the total volume of Meishan's imported and exported goods was 8.027 billion yuan, ranking seventh in the province with a surge of 103.2% year on year. Meishan will make full use of the combined advantages of "free trade + bonded zone + cross-border + processing", foster a pattern of "one area, two parks, and collaboration among six zones" for coordinated development of cross-border e-commerce, and set up a range of cross-border e-commerce industrial clusters characterized by agglomerated development and distinctive features.