1. China Post Logistics and Pinduoduo Partnership

On June 17th, China Post and Pinduoduo announced a deep collaboration. It is reported that China Post has established a specialized cross-border e-commerce consolidation shipping project called "China Post Logistics," aimed at providing efficient, secure, and cost-effective logistics solutions to overseas Chinese and expatriates. This initiative targets countries like Japan and South Korea, offering services for mail, parcels, dedicated lines, and FBA first-mile shipments. The partnership with Pinduoduo aims to create a more convenient international shopping channel for overseas Chinese and expatriates.

Source: China Post Express Logistics

2. 20% of Americans Visit Temu Weekly

A new report released on June 17th reveals that 20% of Americans visit Temu each week. This trend underscores an opportunity for businesses to capitalize by opening their own Temu stores and leveraging this shopping fervor. Based on a survey by Omnisend in April 2024 of 4,000 consumers across four countries, Temu is evolving from a fleeting fashion into a cornerstone of online shopping behavior in the United States. Despite only 6% of Americans trusting Temu more than Amazon, the platform continues to rapidly expand, tapping into significant niche markets.

Source: Shoptop

3. 2024 New Fortune 500 Rich List Released

On June 17th, the 2024 New Fortune 500 Rich List was released. Huang Zheng of Pinduoduo, Zhang Yiming of ByteDance, Pony Ma of Tencent, and Jack Ma of Alibaba ranked in the top five. In the logistics entrepreneur field, Shunfeng's Wang Wei ranked 18th with 95.33 billion RMB, a decrease of 10 places from last year; ZTO Express's Lai Meisong ranked 91st with 31.85 billion RMB; YTO Express's Yu Weijiao couple ranked 213th with 15.27 billion RMB, newly listed; Jitu's Li Jie ranked 238th with 14.04 billion RMB; and Yunda's Nie Tengyun couple ranked 267th with 11.87 billion RMB. In the e-commerce boss field, Huang Zheng ranked second with 424.85 billion RMB, and Ma Yun ranked fifth with 207.31 billion RMB, both rising one place from last year; Wang Xing ranked 38th with 59.15 billion RMB; and Liu Qiangdong couple ranked 64th with 40.9 billion RMB, down 40 places from last year.

Source: Sina Finance

4. YTO Provides Alibaba with HKD 1.4 Billion Anti-Guarantee

On June 17th, YTO Express signed a "Compensation Agreement" with Alibaba Group Services Limited, providing a cumulative total not exceeding HKD 1.4 billion and its accrued interest as an anti-guarantee. During the guarantee period, if the above ratio changes, it will bear the corresponding anti-guarantee responsibility according to the changed ratio.

The announcement states that the guarantee period begins from the date of signing the "Compensation Agreement" until Alibaba Group Services Limited no longer needs to provide any guarantee for Qingyu Investment or the company terminates holding any equity of Qingyu Investment. The guarantee scope includes all debts and their accrued interest, default fines, compensation, and expenses (including but not limited to legal fees, accountant fees, etc.) incurred by Alibaba Group Services Limited in performing guarantee responsibilities or obligations, corresponding to the proportion of 14% equity indirectly held by Qingyu Investment under the guarantee items of the company and the total 65% equity held directly or indirectly by Alibaba Group in Qingyu Investment.

Source: Logistics Report

5. New Feature on Shopee Philippines Site

On June 17th, Shopee Philippines announced a new feature effective from June 10th, 2024, allowing buyers to request on-the-way returns/refunds due to change of mind. Importantly, there will be no charges for sellers associated with on-the-way returns/refunds. This feature enables buyers to request returns/refunds for orders that have been shipped but not yet delivered. Once approved, the orders will be returned to the seller.

This functionality may expedite sellers' receipt of returned orders without requiring any action on their part. On-the-way returns/refunds incur no charges for sellers and these orders will not count towards incomplete order rates.

Source: Shopee Philippines e-commerce platform

6. TikTok Shop Lowers Cross-border Entry Barriers in Southeast Asia

On June 17th, TikTok Shop Southeast Asia announced a new merchant recruitment policy: it now accepts businesses with operating licenses and no e-commerce experience, and individual businesses with experience in cross-border and domestic e-commerce platforms. Previously, TikTok Shop Southeast Asia had higher entry barriers, requiring merchants to possess corporate operating licenses and the legal representatives of these licenses to have operational experience on third-party e-commerce platforms.

Source: TikTok Shop Southeast Asia e-commerce

7. TikTok Updates Self-Operated Cross-border Entry Standards for the U.S. Market

On June 17th, TikTok Shop updated its self-operated cross-border entry standards for the U.S. market, allowing sellers from mainland China and Hong Kong with operating experience on platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and independent sites to join.

Source: TikTok Shop cross-border e-commerce

8. CMA CGM Updates Asia Export Peak Season Surcharge

On June 17th, French shipping company CMA CGM Group announced a new Peak Season Surcharge effective from June 20th, 2024, until further notice. This surcharge applies to cargo originating from all Asian ports and destined for the Gulf of Arabia, the Red Sea, and the Indian Subcontinent.

Additionally, CMA CGM informed its customers of another Peak Season Surcharge (PSS02). Effective from July 15th, 2024, until further notice, this surcharge applies to cargo originating from the Indian Subcontinent, Gulf of Arabia, Red Sea, Egypt, destined for the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of America. The surcharge applies universally to all types of cargo, with a fee of $1000 per container.

Source: CMA CGM

9. MSC Resumes a West Coast U.S. Route

On June 17th, the world's largest shipping company, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), announced on its official website the resumption of the MUSTANG service from the 28th week onwards. This service aims to better meet the growing demand in the trans-Pacific market between East Asia and the U.S. West Coast. The first sailing will be serviced by the vessel "MSC LELLA" under voyage UV428A.

Port rotation is as follows:

Yantian - Ningbo - Shanghai - Long Beach - Yantian

Transit times are 20 days from Yantian to Long Beach, 16 days from Ningbo to Long Beach, and 13 days from Shanghai to Long Beach.

MSC had previously announced the launch of two new services, BRITANNIA and CARIOCA.

Source: MSC

10. First Pre-positioned Cargo Station Commercial 1R Node Implemented in Kunshan

On June 17th, it was announced that the Yangtze River Delta International Airport Kunshan Logistics Center has officially adopted the latest International Air Transport Association (IATA) air cargo logistics data exchange standard known as ONE Record (1R). Utilizing the latest digital base station technology, it has established the first commercial 1R node for pre-positioned cargo stations nationwide. This milestone signifies the center's achievement in enabling end-to-end visibility and traceability of air cargo shipment statuses, thereby creating a new smart air transportation channel for enterprise trade distribution.

1R is a standard for sharing air cargo data aimed at creating a single record of cargo and establishing an "end-to-end" digital supply chain for air logistics. On this supply chain, data can transparently interact within a digital ecosystem jointly built by stakeholders, communities, and data platforms.

Source: Global Air Cargo

11. Ningbo Airport Launches First International Cargo Route of the Year

On June 17th, flight TH769 carried 13.6 tons of cross-border e-commerce goods such as clothing, daily chemicals, and accessories from Ningbo Airport to Kuala Lumpur on the 15th, marking the successful maiden voyage of the "Ningbo = Kuala Lumpur" cargo route. This is the first international cargo route opened by Ningbo Airport this year and the fourth international all-cargo flight route opened in Zhejiang Province this year.

As of now, airports across the province have operated a total of 43 international (including regional) all-cargo flight routes, connecting 13 of the world's top 25 major cargo hubs in Europe, the United States, and Asia. From January to May 2024, the cumulative international and regional cargo throughput reached 133,500 tons, a year-on-year increase of 54.09%.

Source: Air Cargo News Express

12. ANA Postpones Acquisition of NCA for the Fourth Time

On June 17th, All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced the fourth postponement of its acquisition plan for Japan Airlines' subsidiary Japan Cargo Airlines (NCA). In a statement, the ANA Group cited ongoing regulatory approval processes by competition watchdogs as the reason for the delay. Considering the time required for regulatory reviews of the business combination resulting from the share exchange in Japan and China, the effective date of the share exchange has been changed from July 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.

NCA currently operates a fleet of eight B747-8 freighters and owns five B747-400 freighters operated by ASL and Atlas Air. ANA stated at the announcement of the transaction that the acquisition would significantly enhance its international air cargo network in Japan, as well as its products and services.

Source: Cross-border E-commerce Logistics Expert

13. Mexico to Introduce New Regulations for E-commerce and Courier Industries

On June 17th, the Mexican Tax Administration Service (SAT) announced its upcoming revision of foreign trade rules to define the under-declaration of low-value goods such as clothing, electronics, and toys imported by e-commerce platforms and courier companies as smuggling and tax fraud. Since 2023, the Mexican retail and clothing industries have criticized e-commerce platforms and courier companies for abusing the "low-value goods import tax exemption rule" to evade taxes. According to the National Chamber of the Clothing Industry, e-commerce platforms annually evade 38 billion pesos in value-added tax and tariffs through policy abuse.

Source: Economic and Commercial Office, Embassy of the United States in Mexico

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