OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS FLOCK TO CHINESE ONLINE MARKETPLACES

Cross-border e-commerce surges on back of quality products, improved logistics, convenience

Shane Anderson, an office clerk from London, recently bought Chinese-made small household appliances, including a robotic vacuum cleaner and an air fryer, through Chinese e-commerce platforms.

A robotic vacuum cleaner usually sells for more than 350 pounds ($478) at a local store in the United Kingdom, but he purchased one for 160 pounds via Taobao, Alibaba's online marketplace, during the recently concluded "618" online shopping carnival. "It is only about half of the price that I pay here," he said.

The product's creative design and simple-to-use features, and steep discounts provided by the platform led to Anderson placing an order without hesitation. He particularly likes the sweeping robot's intelligent obstacle recognition and self-cleaning functions, which save him time and effort.