The fifth Global Cross-border E-commerce Conference opened in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province on Monday, with Silk Road E-commerce being one of the highlights.

"In the fight against the pandemic, e-commerce has shown strong vitality and resilience. Promoting the development of Silk Road E-commerce will help revitalize the global economy, especially the economies of Belt and Road countries. It is also conducive to promoting the construction of a high-quality digital Silk Road," said Chen Jian, former vice-minister of the Ministry of Commerce.

During the global economic downturn, Silk Road E-commerce has promoted commodity trade between countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative and has become an engine for economic recovery. In an e-commerce livestream event in 2020, the Rwandan ambassador sold more than 1 ton of Rwandan coffee on Taobao (the Chinese form of Amazon or eBay) in only 10 minutes, which was equivalent to total sales volume in 2019.

According to data from Made-in-China.com, among the Belt and Road countries, inquiries from ASEAN, South Asia, West Asia, and Central Asia all rose rapidly.

"During the epidemic last year, the foreign trade situation of the Belt and Road region grew against the trend. In the future, Silk Road E-commerce will bring more opportunities and possibilities to China's foreign trade," said Cao Rui, vice-president of Focus Technology, the parent company of Made-in-China.com.

According to the statistics of the General Administration of Customs of China, in the first three months of 2021, trade between China and 63 countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative reached $384.75 billion, an increase of 29.74 percent year-on-year, creating a new historical trade record between China and Belt and Road countries.

Wang Min contributed to this story.