Beijing's list of 1,100 foreign items that e-commerce retailers are allowed to sell in China has created a major headache for mainland e-commerce platforms and customs authorities.

The list coincided with efforts to standardise China's ballooning cross-border e-commerce sector that has been criticised by brick and mortar retailers for being too loosely regulated.

The list comprises wide ranging goods from food and drinks and children's toys to nappies and cosmetics.

At the same time of releasing the list, the Central Government introduced a new tax regime on this cross-border e-commerce trade that is forecast by the Ministry of Commerce to raise CNY6.5 trillion (US$1.005 trillion) this year.

It also imposed duties equivalent to 70 per cent of those on traditional imports, reported the China Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.

Owing to the great haste by which the list came into force, Yiwu businessman, Lin Zhiyong, said many goods bought before they were banned were left stranded at duty-free zones.

Xiaohongshu, a well-known cross-border e-commerce platform, admitted it was struggling to cut inventories at its Zhengzhou warehouse.

President Xu Ping of the Henan Bonded Logistics Centre in Zhengzhou, a major warehouse for cross-border e-commerce retailers, said operations at had been seriously affected by the new rules.

She said the new customs procedures, which required clearance of goods entering the bonded area, were hardly workable.

Source: shippingazette.com