China e-tailers scramble to implement new trade rules

Mainland cross-border e-commerce platforms and customs authorities are scrambling to update their systems to cope with what traders say are rushed new restrictions on the goods they sell, reports the South China Morning Post. A list announced by the government on Thursday evening designated more than 1,100 items that e-tailers could import from foreign markets. The list was part of an effort to standardise China’s ballooning cross-border e-commerce sector, often criticised by conventional traders as loosely regulated. Industry insiders say that as the list came into force the next day they were given too little time to get rid of those items that were newly banned.