A delegation of company representatives from 17 countries visits Ningbo on Nov 4. [Photo/ nbtv.cn]

A group of company representatives led by the International Trade Center (ITC) of the United Nations visited Ningbo on Nov 4, before making their way to the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) opened on Nov 5 in Shanghai. 

The representatives came from 17 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, including Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. 

"Most of them have had trade contacts with Chinese companies, with exports to China ranging from farm produce, food, daily consumer goods, and tourist and educational services," said an official from ICT.

"They want to do cross-border trade by using the internet platform, and Ningbo is their first choice to partner with, judging from the port throughput, cross-border e-commerce capacity and supporting facilities, as well as the manufacturing strength of the city," added the official.

The group showed particular interest in the smart logistics warehouse of Tmall Global, an online shopping platform of Alibaba for selling overseas goods to domestic consumers, at the Ningbo Hangzhou Bay New Zone.

"They are mainly interested in how the cross-border goods are delivered and how the products from their countries can be directly sold to China," said Wang Xueliang, an executive of the warehouse. 

Cainiao Network, a Chinese logistics company launched by Alibaba Group, has 100,000-square-meter cross-border warehouse at the Ningbo Hangzhou Bay New Zone, making the zone the largest Tmall Global direct-sales base in China.