Shenzhen, southern China's high-tech powerhouse, is supercharging foreign trade through smart logistics. The cross-border e-commerce sector is booming as a pillar of trade, fuelled by intelligent, seamlessly connected supply chains. Our reporter Bi Ran has more.

This, this, this – and all of these parcels – collected from across China, are being sent to destinations around the world. It's happening every second of every day, right here in Shenzhen – China's number one city for cross-border e-commerce.

With over 80,000 cross-border e-commerce sellers – nearly half of all those in China – Shenzhen stands at the very heart of the nation's global online trade. But what's the real engine of the boom? Innovation.

BI RAN Shenzhen "This is a smart parcel sorting and inspection system. In just one second, it can measure the weight and dimensions of a package, scan the SKU, and categorize it automatically."

Shenzhen is a launchpad for e-commerce giants and tech firms alike. It's home to some of the country's most advanced smart logistics systems – where AI manages supply chains.

HUANG ZHIJIAN Vice General Manager Guangdong Delixun International Logistics Co., Ltd. "Smart systems have greatly improved our efficiency. Since 2022, we've focused on scaling up, with our company growing 60 percent, and top logistics companies in Guangdong up over 50 percent."

Most of Huang's partners and vendors are industry giants like Huolala, Shein, and Shunfeng – major players in transport and retail, many rooted in Shenzhen and key to completing the e-commerce supply chain.

HUANG ZHIJIAN Vice General Manager Guangdong Delixun International Logistics Co., Ltd. "We've set up warehouses of 10,000 square meters each in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and beyond. Every week, we place over 1,000 Huolala freight orders, collecting more than 8,000 cubic meters of goods."

Intelligent logistics platforms like Huolala are streamlining the supply chain – with growing R&D investment to keep pace with the industry's rapid evolution.

WANG GONG Director, Huolala Marketing Department "Since 2019, algorithms have been fully integrated into our operations. Built on AI, big data, and advanced mapping technologies, the system uses a self-developed optimization algorithm framework to solve core challenges in resource allocation. So our intelligent platform handles the real-time matching of millions of daily orders with hundreds of thousands of drivers, achieving a vehicle-to-cargo match rate of 92 percent."

Even in global markets, these homegrown smart logistics systems are delivering results.

WANG GONG Director, Huolala Marketing Department "The company launched the U.S. last-mile delivery last July. Smart routing cut delivery time to 1.2 days, with a 99 percent delivery success rate."

While freight services form the backbone of Shenzhen's cross-border e-commerce corridor, drone deliveries are making the network futuristic.

HENG SHILONG Drone Captain, Phoenix-Wings "In Shenzhen, 800 to 1,000 drone flights are made daily to handle over 20,000 package orders. Our fleet currently has 200 drones in operation."

BI RAN Shenzhen "This box of goods is packed in a container and will be loaded onto a drone that's waiting for takeoff."

Unmanned vehicles and drones are now working together in one site, merging ground and low-altitude logistics. The result? A next-gen delivery network – hub, grid, and last mile – built into a very effective system.

BI RAN Shenzhen "Throughout Shenzhen, end-to-end drone deliveries can be done within two hours. For surrounding cities, deliveries can be completed within four hours."

Goods can travel from Shenzhen's Yantian Port to San Francisco on the U.S. West Coast in as little as 11 days through this air-ground-sea network.

WU HAIFENG Research Fellow Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen "Last year, the cross-border trade from those e-commerce platforms have already exceeded one trillion CNY. Actually, it will become the economic output in Shenzhen local economies. That is quite important for Shenzhen economy, and AI, further technological improvement in the future."

From the innovation corridors of Shenzhen to smart warehouses globally, China is upgrading the global e-commerce one smart package at a time. Bi Ran, CGTN, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.