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The federal government is pushing to get Canadian companies on major Chinese e-commerce platforms as the two countries deepen their ties.
International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu told The Canadian Press in a recent interview that China’s e-commerce titans Alibaba and JD.com want more Canadian businesses on their platforms.
“I want to help enable that,” he said. “There are some options that we’re considering there.”
Sidhu said the push is happening now “because the relationship is where it’s at.”
During a visit to Beijing earlier this year — the first such visit by a Canadian prime minister in eight years — Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada is entering a “new era of relations” with China. He said the stage is set for talks on ways the two countries can become “strategic partners.”
Carney announced during the trip that China had agreed to lower agricultural tariffs in exchange for Canada granting some market access to Chinese electric vehicle makers, and that Beijing also agreed to eventually loosen its visa requirements for Canadian visitors.
“As the relationship is warming, we’re able to have these positive conversations to get mutual benefits for both of our countries,” said Sidhu. “Making sure that the small and medium-sized businesses in Canada benefit from a market of 1.4 billion people is very important.”
Samantha Lafleur, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, said in an email that Chinese e-commerce has become the predominant sales channel for consumer products and now serves more than a billion consumers.
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She said the Trade Commissioner Service in China works with Canadian companies to identify the most effective channels to promote their exports.
Lafleur said that since 2013, the government office has had dedicated e-commerce officers in China and has worked to help Canadian brands join China’s e-commerce marketplace and build up their brands.
In 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alibaba founder Jack Ma announced the launch of a Canadian “pavilion” on the company’s Tmall platform. Trudeau said at the time a digital hub would connect Canadian companies to more than 400 million Chinese consumers.
Lafleur said the Trade Commissioner Service has also launched a program offering some Canadian brands product feedback from Alibaba and industry stakeholders to improve “market readiness and performance.”
She added that meetings with Alibaba and JD.com, including meetings involving the minister, are helping Canadian businesses prepare to “further leverage these platforms to export more high-quality Canadian goods to China.”
Lafleur said the Trade Commissioner Service in Beijing has also “worked closely with JD.com and its cross-border e-commerce arm, JD Worldwide, to provide new opportunities for Canadian companies in the consumer products and agri-food sectors.”
Retail analyst Bruce Winder said getting Canadian companies on Chinese platforms is a “good thing” for the right company with the right product.
“Especially with so much uncertainty with our friend south of the border, in terms of what’s going to happen with duties and tariffs, I think it’s natural that we try to sell our products across a number of different commodities to China to tap into their market, particularly as we’re opening economic ties again,” said Winder.
“Diversification is the key thing. I think it’s a smart thing for Canada and for Canadian industry to diversify and be more of a global provider of goods and services versus just to one primary market.”
Winder said there is some low-cost production in China and Canadian companies should try to sell at a middle to higher end price point on branded products.
“Don’t try to compete with low cost operators from China. You won’t win,” he said. “But there are unique items and unique categories that Canadian companies offer, whether it’s Lululemon or Canada Goose, and they’re already selling to China on a lot of these platforms.
“Like you would do with any other country, you have to do the analysis and make sure that you understand what’s happening in the market and if and where your products fit.”
Danny Xu, Export Development Canada’s marketing business partner for the Indo-Pacific, said in a blog post on the Crown corporation’s website earlier this year that Chinese e-commerce platforms offer new sales channels for Canadian agri-food exporters.
He said top e-commerce platforms for agri-food products include Tmall Global, which is owned by Alibaba, and JD.com’s JD Worldwide. Both focus on cross-border e-commerce, he said, allowing international producers and merchants to sell to Chinese consumers without having a physical presence in China.
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