Young Consumption + Digital Infrastructure: Cross-Border E-Commerce Ignites New Engine for China-ASEAN Trade

In 2025, Southeast Asia's digital economy witnessed explosive growth, with cross-border e-commerce leveraging three major dividends—demographic dividend (70% of the population under 30 years old), policy dividend (RCEP tariff reductions and upgraded regional customs transit systems), and industrial dividend (China's complete 3C digital/home furnishings supply chain)—to become the core driver of China-ASEAN trade growth. According to authoritative data from the CCID Research Institute, Southeast Asia's e-commerce market size reached $133.6 billion in 2025, with a regional compound annual growth rate exceeding 22%, far surpassing the global average and ranking first among the world's fastest-growing e-commerce markets.

Bilateral trade data confirms e-commerce vitality: From January to November 2025, China's exports to ASEAN reached ¥4.29 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 14.6%, with cross-border e-commerce contributing significant incremental growth. Guangxi, as a frontier province for China-ASEAN trade, saw its cross-border e-commerce import and export volume with ASEAN exceed ¥30 billion in 2024, a year-on-year surge of over 100%. Specifically, cross-border trade volumes with Thailand and Vietnam exceeded ¥12 billion and ¥10 billion, respectively, forming a new trade pattern of "trillion-dollar exports + billion-dollar incremental growth."

Southeast Asia's e-commerce market showcases unique advantages: Among nearly 700 million people, over 70% are under 30 years old, with a smartphone penetration rate as high as 90%. Short-video live-stream e-commerce platforms like TikTok Shop Indonesia achieved single-day GMV exceeding $10 million. RCEP tariff reductions reduced the landed cost of Chinese goods by 15%-20%, while the upgraded ASEAN regional customs transit system compressed cross-border delivery times to within 3 days, improving logistics efficiency by 40% and creating a "young consumption + fast logistics" golden combination.

Hot-selling categories and deepened platform cooperation: China's 3C digital products, home furnishings, beauty and skincare, and apparel and accessories became top-selling categories on ASEAN e-commerce platforms, dominating the Top 10 sales rankings. Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms (such as Alibaba International Station, SHEIN) deepened cooperation with local platforms like Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop, achieving 48-hour delivery through a "platform docking + local warehousing and distribution" model. Simultaneously, ASEAN specialty products such as fruits, handicrafts, and palm-based products entered the Chinese market via cross-border e-commerce, forming a two-way trade channel.

Accelerated trade model transformation: Cross-border e-commerce broke down traditional bulk trade barriers, driving bilateral trade transformation from "bulk goods" to "small-ticket, high-frequency, personalized consumption." Data from Guangxi's Pingxiang Port showed that in 2024, daily processing of cross-border e-commerce parcels exceeded 500,000 units, with SMEs accounting for over 60%, enabling "one-piece dropshipping" direct to end consumers and truly building a direct bridge between "Made in China" and "ASEAN consumption."