Yantai, a port city in Shandong province, is enhancing the development of cross-border e-commerce to boost its economic and trade ties with other countries, especially neighboring Japan and South Korea.

"As more foreign trade companies are using e-commerce to develop their overseas business, Yantai's cross-border e-commerce services have entered the fast lane and become a new driver for the growth of its foreign trade," said Yu Dong, head of the Yantai Bureau of Commerce.

In March, Yantai was approved by the General Administration of Customs to be one of 14 pilot cities for cross-border e-commerce services in China, the province's second after Qingdao.

Among the first batch of coastal cities to open up to the world in 1984, Yantai has a strong competitive edge in developing cross-border business, Yu said.

Its total import and export volumes rose to $49.3 billion in 2013 from $24.2 million 30 years ago, statistics from the local commerce bureau show.

The foreign trade volume from its State-level comprehensive bonded trade zone alone reached $15.74 billion last year, ranked first among the country's bonded trade zones.

The World Bank acknowledged Yantai as one of China's Gold Medal Cities in terms of its investment environment back in 2006, and it has continued to its efforts to ensure the city is appealing to investors.

Currently, more than 93 Fortune 500 and multinational enterprises have facilities in Yantai, contributing to its competitiveness in sectors including automobiles, computers, cellphones, wines, ship-building and new materials.

As cross-border e-commerce grows rapidly, the local authority will prioritize development of more trade service companies and cross-border e-commerce platforms, Yu said.

The city now has 37,000 e-commerce companies, generating more than 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) in sales revenue last year.

A cross-border e-commerce industrial park is under construction in the comprehensive bonded trade zone. With a range of preferential policies being offered, the park is expected to attract some of the world's leading e-commerce enterprises, as well as their cross-border logistics and online payment service providers.

A multilingual online cross-border trade platform is also being established to provide local companies with complete-package services such as customs clearance, trade financing, storage and distribution.

"The advantages of cross-border e-commerce lie in its lower costs, higher efficiency and less intermediate links. It will help more local exporters, especially those small and medium-sized companies, to better tap the overseas market," Yu said.

wangqian2@chinadaily.com.cn