1. E-commerce brings new advantages to the development of my country’s international trade

(1) Significantly reduces the cost of international trade. Compared with domestic trade, international trade requires a large number of documents. Processing is expensive. For example, in 1996, various miscellaneous expenses in global cross-border trade, mainly paper documents, amounted to US$350 billion, accounting for 7% of the total value of world trade that year. Carrying out international trade through e-commerce can not only save about 90% of document processing costs, but also shorten the time for delivering documents and settling foreign exchange, speed up capital turnover, and save interest expenses. The cost advantage is very obvious. In addition, since a large number of intermediate links are reduced, buyers and sellers can directly conduct business activities through the Internet, and transaction costs are significantly reduced. In traditional international trade business, due to the participation of a large number of middlemen, the buying price of foreign importers is often 5-10 times the delivery price of domestic manufacturers. There are now many international trade e-commerce platforms that directly integrate the supply and demand information of Chinese manufacturers and foreign importers online, allowing them to conduct direct transactions online. Since the intermediate links are reduced, both parties benefit.

(2) Transaction efficiency is significantly improved. Using e-commerce to carry out international trade, buyers and sellers can use standardized, electronic format contracts, bills of lading, insurance certificates, invoices, bills of exchange, letters of credit, etc., to make various related Documents can be transmitted instantly online, which greatly saves the transmission time of documents. It can also effectively reduce various errors caused by repeated data entry in paper documents, which has a very obvious effect on improving transaction efficiency. In traditional international trade, every procedure including signing, negotiation, customs declaration, chartering, warehouse booking, insurance, and payment and settlement must be manually participated. The transaction efficiency is low, the error rate is high, and the time limit is large. By handling related business online, manual participation can be minimized and there is no time limit, which improves the flexibility of business processing and brings more convenience to customers.

(3) All-weather business operations to improve customer satisfaction. Due to the time differences around the world, it is quite inconvenient to conduct international business negotiations. For enterprises, under traditional conditions, we can provide services every day, 7 days a week. 24-hour customer service often feels inadequate. The use of e-commerce can provide 7×24 all-weather service, and any customer can obtain various business information of relevant enterprises from the Internet at any time and anywhere in the world. If you can't get the ideal answer, you can also ask by email. As long as the company responds in time, the visitor can get a satisfactory answer. The round-the-clock, uninterrupted operation of e-commerce can enable customers around the world to obtain the information they need at any time, bring more orders to export companies, and greatly improve the success rate of transactions.

(4) Reduce trade barriers and expand trade opportunities. As a global network, the Internet has completely eliminated geographical boundaries and has positive significance in reducing tangible and invisible barriers to international trade. When doing business online, there are no restrictions on religious beliefs, no racial discrimination, and even differences in company size and economic strength no longer seem important. Developed countries, mainly the United States, strongly advocate that international trade through e-commerce be exempted from tariffs. On the one hand, this has effectively promoted the development of international trade and promoted the rapid increase in international trade business volume; on the other hand, it has also effectively promoted the world The development of e-commerce within the scope has made the process of global economic integration move forward faster.

After my country joins the WTO, foreign telecommunications companies, Internet companies, multinational banks, transportation companies, etc. will flood into the domestic market in large numbers, which will greatly promote the competition of global online products in the Chinese market. While facing challenges, Chinese enterprises must make full use of the effective tool of e-commerce, proactively attack the international market, find more trade opportunities, and seek greater living space.

(5) Reduce dependence on physical infrastructure Traditional enterprises must have corresponding infrastructure to conduct international trade business, such as office buildings, warehousing facilities, product showrooms, sales stores, etc. International trade is much more dependent on physical infrastructure than domestic trade.

If e-commerce is used to carry out international trade business, the investment in this area will obviously be much smaller. For example, compared with traditional physical bookstores, Amazon online bookstores in the United States can hardly find luxurious office buildings and spacious business halls, and even only a few Except for some of the best-selling books in stock, most of the other book varieties are ordered from various publishing houses after receiving orders from customers, accounting for almost no inventory. However, the Amazon online bookstore provides nearly 3 million multi-language versions. Books are sold to more than 160 countries and regions around the world, with more than 10 million registered users and a turnover of US$1.5 billion in 1999. Therefore, using e-commerce for international trade can significantly reduce investment in physical infrastructure. For information products, such as electronic versions of newspapers and magazines, audio-visual entertainment, computer software, and information consulting services, if the products themselves can be sold and delivered online, sales counters, warehousing facilities, etc. will be completely redundant. The entire sales process, from research and development, ordering, payment to product delivery, can be realized online. By reducing or eliminating reliance on physical infrastructure, businesses can pass much of the savings on to consumers.

(6) Improving the international competitiveness of my country’s foreign trade enterprises After joining the WTO, my country’s traditional foreign trade enterprises will encounter very severe challenges. How to improve the international competitiveness of foreign trade enterprises is not only a need for the survival and development of foreign trade enterprises themselves, but also a major issue related to the healthy, sustainable and stable development of our national economy. As the future development direction of international trade, the importance of e-commerce will become increasingly apparent. Foreign trade companies must understand e-commerce from the perspective of improving their competitiveness in the international market and implement it as soon as possible. Foreign trade companies can actively publish supply and demand information by establishing relevant websites, conduct two-way communication and exchanges with customers in a timely manner, use the Internet to promote their corporate image, expand corporate visibility, and gradually use e-commerce as an advanced tool to enhance the company's international market competitiveness. Serve.

Although e-commerce has the above six major advantages, e-commerce is a new thing for my country's international trade after all, and problems will inevitably exist in practice.

2. Problems existing in the development of international trade in my country’s e-commerce environment

(1) Consumption concept issues In international trade under the e-commerce environment, buyers purchase goods through the Internet When a store selects the required goods, it is usually only after the goods arrive that they can see their true appearance, and after-sales service is difficult to guarantee. These circumstances make consumers lack trust in online shopping. "At the same time, it is difficult to guarantee network security in electronic payment methods, leaving consumers with a lack of trust." A sense of security.

(2) Legal and regulatory issues First, regarding the issue of evidence, with the development and application of e-commerce in international trade, how to identify the authenticity of online e-commerce documents and how to The use and acceptance of electronic document evidence in legal affairs will become an important issue in new trade regulations.

Secondly, regarding the issue of written form, since many documents in electronic trade are transmitted through the Internet, the written documents of both parties are relatively small. There are few, and the current laws and regulations have not yet clearly stipulated the specific form of written documents, which may lead to a lack of security in transactions.

Thirdly, regarding the requirements for signature and certification, the United Nations International Trade Commission drafted the "Unification" in 2000. "Electronic Signature Rules", that is, the "electronic signature system" which is the common international practice for signature authentication, stipulates that this electronic signature is a key composed of code and symbol encryption, and is unique and identifiable. However, there are still regulations in various countries. There is a lack of unified laws and regulations in the world to regulate this.

Fourthly, regarding the time and place of the establishment of a computer network contract, the time and place of the establishment of the contract are important in international trade arbitration. Evidence, and the electronic documents of both parties to the transaction may be inconsistent in terms of effective time and effective location during the network transmission process. Therefore, the formulation of unified legal norms for the global system requires the joint efforts of all countries in the world.

Fifth, international tax collection and management issues. Due to some characteristics of e-commerce, tax agencies in various countries have great difficulties in taxing e-commerce online transactions: when levying tariffs on imported and exported goods, physical trade generally follows the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ", "Tariff Valuation Agreement" or taxation based on rules of origin, while service trade is taxed according to the "General Agreement on Trade in Services". For electronic goods, should it be taxed according to trade in goods or trade in services? This needs to be done? Develop new regulations to define.

(3) Logistics coordination issues International trade under e-commerce is a highly unified process of information flow, capital flow and logistics. With the support of electronic tools and network technology, information flow and capital flow can be completed instantly with a light click. However, the spatial displacement of logistics data, that is, specific transportation, storage, loading and unloading, custody and other activities cannot be directly transmitted through the network. to complete. Logistics hardware technology should include various mechanical equipment, transportation tools, warehouse construction, station facilities involved in packaging, loading and unloading, transportation, storage, circulation processing, distribution and other logistics activities, as well as computers and communication network equipment that serve logistics. The transportation system of new international trade under e-commerce requires smooth roads, advanced transportation equipment, transportation containers dominated by container technology, and consistent "door-to-door" transportation connections! Port palletizers that operate at high speed and can automatically pick up and deliver goods, barcode technology, container technology, etc.

3. Countermeasures for developing my country’s trade under the e-commerce environment

In order to fully utilize e-commerce in my country’s international trade and promote the development of my country’s international trade, in view of the above To solve existing problems, the following countermeasures are proposed.

(1) Solutions to Security Problems

First, at the electronic technology level, we should adopt a series of effective electronic technology methods to ensure the security of electronic transaction services . At present, the most commonly used methods are: applying digital certificates to solve the problem of identifying the objects of online transactions; applying asymmetric key cryptography technology to solve the confidentiality problem in the transmission of transaction information; applying digital abstracts, digital envelopes, digital signatures and other methods to solve the problem of transmitting transaction information The final complete, correct, and unmodified verification problem; apply digital time to solve the time authentication problem of electronic transaction documents. In addition to the above basic technical means, some security authentication protocols have emerged in recent years, such as secure electronic transaction protocols, etc. These protocols have made positive contributions in promoting and ensuring the security of electronic transactions.

Second, the level of international trade business personnel. At this level, we should require online international trade participants to have a deep understanding of the characteristics of e-commerce and online international trade, and to be aware of the risks of online international trade. Be highly alert, have a comprehensive understanding of the technical specifications for e-commerce operations, and the Uniform Commercial Regulations for International Trade in E-commerce, be able to skillfully use various technical means and methods to ensure the security of electronic transactions, and at the same time, be self-disciplined in your own online transaction behavior. "Only in this way, Only by minimizing the transaction risks of foreign trade business in the e-commerce environment can we ensure the healthy development of e-commerce and online international trade.

Third, establish a humanized international CRM (Customer Relations Management). System. The core idea of ??CRM is to understand what customers want and satisfy customers, thereby improving business performance. Foreign trade companies establishing CRM can not only effectively avoid over-reliance on salesmen in traditional trade methods, but also make it faster and more convenient. , Efficiently realize front-end customer interaction to meet customer service requirements, and provide multiple access channels for domestic and foreign customers to interact with enterprises and collect data through functions such as marketing, comprehensive customer service, sales support, customer management, partner management, and product management. , provide full-process automated management and collaborative cooperation for marketing and customer service, support the company's business strategy, and provide effective support for decision-making analysis of corporate strategies and tactics. It is worth noting that the customer relationships of foreign trade companies are complex and involve different countries. Different languages, cultures, habits! Differences in laws, technical levels, etc. Therefore, the humanization of the CRM system of foreign trade companies should respect the national conditions of each country and try to meet the different requirements of different countries, especially the company’s main trading partners and trading regions.

(2) Countermeasures to solve legal and regulatory issues

First, further improve laws, regulations, policies, taxation, etc., and increase investment to provide support for improving the competitiveness of foreign trade e-commerce. Learn from foreign experience and implement an effective e-commerce action plan for the development of e-commerce; establish a complete "E-commerce Law" and improve laws and regulations on tariffs, payments, copyrights, patents, consumer rights, etc.; The business tax collection and management system implements tax reduction, free and other incentive measures; strengthens the construction of the foreign trade e-commerce service system and establishes a special guidance agency to provide services to different types of foreign trade enterprises.

Second, participate in the formulation and cooperation of international standards and actively integrate with the international market. Currently, European and American countries, especially major American companies, are trying to incorporate their product standards into the international standards of the Internet in order to make themselves Our products are in a leading position in the fierce competition. This means that once Internet-based e-commerce becomes an internationally accepted means of trade, whoever sets the standards will have the right to speak and have priority. The development of China's foreign trade e-commerce must adapt to the situation of economic globalization. It must actively integrate with the international market and improve its international cooperation status by formulating corresponding international standards. It must actively carry out cooperation with relevant international organizations and deal with the emerging issues in transnational e-commerce. Carry out bilateral and multilateral international consultations on tariff issues, tax jurisdiction issues, dispute arbitration issues, standards issues, etc., implement and resolve them one by one, actively participate in the formulation of relevant international conventions, promote the development of international e-commerce, and protect Chinese enterprises in international e-commerce activities. "Continue to carry out multilateral and bilateral e-commerce cooperation and promote multilateral, bilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation through e-commerce."

Third, integrate into the global online payment system, improve the efficiency of cross-border capital circulation, and promote electronic payment It is an important means to reflect the advantages of e-commerce. Foreign trade e-commerce, a form of transnational e-commerce, must rely on Internet-based online payment. China should integrate into the global online payment system based on the characteristics of e-commerce to improve cross-border capital circulation. Efficiency. The foreign trade industry should strengthen cooperation with banks and jointly develop electronic payment tools suitable for cross-border exchanges to realize cross-border payment of foreign trade e-commerce. In addition, domestic banks and foreign banks should strengthen cooperation technically. , Policies provide guarantees for corporate cross-border payments to solve the inconvenience caused to users by the inconsistent payment systems of major banks, as well as currency exchange problems in cross-border electronic payments. On the one hand, online banking services should be improved to realize electronic payment. Organic integration of business and online banking “E-commerce companies and e-commerce platform providers should strengthen cooperation with the banking industry, make full use of online payment and e-commerce service systems and other services of online banks, and integrate corporate financial management, ERP systems, etc. Fully integrated with online banking system. For banking institutions, they should timely transform their business processes, improve e-commerce payment platforms, strengthen cooperation with public payment gateways, and actively participate in e-commerce online settlement. On the other hand, they should formulate unified plans to strengthen and improve the online payment system to provide To meet the needs of cross-border online payment in e-commerce, a powerful financial communication network should be established as soon as possible, including the China National Financial Network (CNF)! On the basis of the bank's internal communication network (Intranet) and the financial international Internet (F2Internet), the construction of the bank business processing system, modern payment and settlement system and bank management information system should be accelerated, and the compatibility of the online payment systems of various banks should be studied. With coordination, establish and implement comprehensive cross-bank and cross-border online payment solutions.