The burgeoning prosperity of China's e-commerce industries has now rippled through its border with Myanmar. In the border city of Ruili in southwestern China's Yunnan Province, companies have made it part of their strategies to develop cross-border e-commerce.

Ruili, located in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, has the largest land port on the China-Myanmar border. Official data showed the port cleared 16.72 million people and 4.85 million vehicles for entry and exit last year.

The port registered 11.64 billion U.S. dollars of foreign trade last year, up 14.5 percent year on year, released by the Kunming Customs.

Imports from Myanmar via the port mainly included agricultural products, crude oil and natural gas, while flowers, mechanical and electronic products were among the major exports. 

The port supplied nearly eight million mobile phones to Myanmar in 2018. With an increased number of people using smartphones in Myanmar, as well as a rapid expansion of 4G networks, Tradelink Corporate – a Chinese company based in Jiegao of Ruili – launched the online shopping platform eMyan three years ago.

Now the company, with branches in Myanmar cities like Yangon and Mandalay, has grown into one of the leading e-commerce platforms in the country. 

"We supply high-quality Chinese products on e-commerce platforms by combining massive and isolated orders into big ones. Then we purchase goods in bulk directly from manufacturers, which helps reduce cost of the supply chain," Jack Wang, CEO of  Tradelink Corporate told CGTN in an interview.  

In 2019, the company registered a turnover of nearly 60 million U.S. dollars, a 150 percent increase year on year. Tradelink has now developed two online platforms, with eMyan for retail service, and Everest for wholesale. It vows to provide more choices this year to its customers in Myanmar, and beyond.

62-year old Sen Win, a local resident of Muse, used to make a living via cross-border trading. His family has been using eMyan for more than two years. Most of their daily utensils, and home appliances, like a TV set were purchased online.

He told CGTN that "in the past, we had to go across the border to China's Ruili city to buy things. It's difficult to get an official document. We also needed to change rides several times. Now the e-commerce platform can deliver quality goods to my home."

Back in 2016, China and Myanmar agreed to set up a border economic cooperation zone to promote bilateral trade. Myanmar's border town of Muse, along with China's Ruili, is part of that initiative. The zone is expected to create more business opportunities, and help small and medium-sized enterprises grow.