According to Payoneer, a B2B online payments company, a survey of around 900 Chinese e-commerce businesses revealed that some 62 percent sold products on Amazon, 45 percent on Wish, and 40 percent on AliExpress (part of Alibaba). Other e-commerce sites accounted for very small percentages of sales.

The businesses were based in both Mainland China and Hong Kong. A large majority of them focused on sales of electronics and accessories. The second most common sales were clothes, and the third were household goods. Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics indicate that the combined sales of Chinese retail websites accounted for $590 billion in sales. This was an increase of a third compared to the previous year. Figures indicate that Chinese businesses now account for 40 percent of global e-commerce sales. Choose one product from each of the top three product categories and source it from a Chinese business using one or more of the e-commerce platforms. Compare the price and terms for buying the same product in your own domestic market. How straightforward is the process, and are there any hidden costs to consider?