Under the shadow of the trade war, mainland China’s cross-border e-commerce enterprises are actively recruiting network anchors from Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, Europe, and America to expand their overseas markets, recommending products to online users in their respective countries. In the live streaming rooms, multiple languages fill the air as different markets sell different goods. For example, a Hangzhou e-commerce company has around 20 foreign anchors under its umbrella.
Amid a temporary truce in the US-China trade war, mainland China’s cross-border e-commerce enterprises are striving to explore overseas markets by using foreign anchors to sell products through live broadcasts, finding a breakthrough for their companies to go global.
According to a report by Sing Tao Daily on May 27, Gao Ming, a communication studies graduate student from Yunnan University, conducted a three-month “field investigation” at a cross-border e-commerce company in Yunnan.
Bordering Vietnam, Yunnan began recruiting Vietnamese female anchors to promote Chinese products to the Vietnamese people after three years of epidemic control measures. The live broadcasting studio is set up in the Yunnan River Mouth County near the China-Vietnam border, selling a variety of goods such as furniture, daily necessities, food, and toys. Among them, Chinese cosmetics sell the best, with well-known brands like Perfect Diary, Kolaqui, and Zise, as well as more products from lesser-known Chinese domestic brands like Feiluer.
Gao Ming stated that the Vietnamese female anchors under the company are very young, generally between the ages of 21 and 23. Upon joining the company, they undergo systematic training and start learning Chinese.
During a two-hour live broadcast, the Vietnamese female anchors typically earn a monthly salary of around 6,000 RMB (Chinese Yuan), with the highest reaching 8,000 RMB. The more live shows they host, the more money they can earn. If they were to stay in Vietnam and work in the service industry or in office customer service, their monthly income would be around only 1,500 to 2,000 RMB.
In contrast to the Southeast Asian market, live streaming rooms targeting the European and American markets focus on consumer electronics, lithium batteries, energy storage equipment, new energy vehicles, and even luxury household goods such as Chinese-made carpets. In the live streaming room of Hangzhou Humi Technology Co., Ltd., Bati, a foreign anchor from Zimbabwe, uses fluent English to introduce various products to American consumers. Since 2020, this company has had around 20 foreign anchors serving over 500 clients.
The company’s founder, Deng Yahui, stated that in the face of traditional foreign trade being impacted by factors such as tariffs and logistics, live streaming has allowed the company to find a new approach. In the early days, the team sold everything from wigs and crystals to gas cylinders. With accumulated experience, they have learned to tailor their products to different markets. Deng mentioned that while the cost of a live stream could be tens of thousands of yuan, the revenue it brings to clients could reach hundreds of thousands or even millions.
The trend of “going global” has become common in the live streaming industry. Research from the Clouread Index Institute shows that nearly 30% of domestic multi-channel network (MCN) institutions are currently attempting to expand overseas, with another 14.9% in preparation or observation. In terms of regional focus, North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia have become key areas for international expansion and development efforts.
In the second issue of China News Weekly this year, it was reported that to conduct live e-commerce in the United States, most Chinese sellers lack the capability to build their own live streaming rooms. The high costs of renting an office, setting up a live streaming room, and training staff are obstacles. Moreover, the core issue is that most of them are not in the United States, which is also one of the reasons why some overseas institutions can quickly establish live streaming business offshore.
Several industry insiders have stated that cross-border e-commerce holds significant growth potential, yet businesses encounter challenging issues during the international expansion process. Problems such as cultural differences, differing consumer habits, and difficulties adapting to platforms plague these merchants. Respondents suggest approaching international live streaming with an open mind, as localizing and finely tuning operations present significant difficulties and often determine whether a company can truly take root in a new market.