Ningbo leads China in 2025 cross-border e-commerce exports

Ningbo Customs officers inspect exported cross-border e-commerce goods. [Photo by Ying Jun/Tide News]

Ningbo ranked first nationwide in 2025 for cross-border e-commerce exports from special regulatory zones, with trade value reaching 5.99 billion yuan ($862.24 million), up 24.7 percent year-on-year.

Bonded imports through online shopping platforms also remained among the country's top performers, underscoring how new trade formats are energizing the city's open economy.

Ningbo Customs has supported the development of a bulk commodity resource hub, including the construction of Asia's largest underground bonded propane warehouse.

The city also completed China's first pilot bonded liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering program under a "fuel first, declare later" model, with a 5,700-metric-ton biofuel bunkering operation setting a national record, helping Ningbo-Zhoushan Port rise to the world's fourth-largest bunkering port and one of China's top LNG fueling hubs.

Institutional innovation further boosted competitiveness, with a new customs-port cooperation mechanism lifting Ningbo to seventh place globally in the International Shipping Center Development Index. The Yiwu-Ningbo Zhoushan sea-rail intermodal line also became China's first to surpass 1 million containers.

At the same time, Ningbo expanded its cross-border e-commerce infrastructure, promoted bonded-warehouse livestreaming models, and launched bonded maintenance and R&D projects in advanced manufacturing, reinforcing its role as a gateway for global trade.

Meishan Port Area of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port. [Photo by Yang Jiangqi/Tide News]