Overseas Chinese in Japan enjoy Spring Festival with cross-border online purchases of Chinese products

Thanks to the rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce in China, more and more overseas Chinese in Japan started to enjoy the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year with Chinese-made products by simply placing an order online with their mobile phones.

Zhao Hui, who lives in the city of Nara in western Japan, has just received a large box of goods from China during the Spring Festival, which was shipped by a cross-border logistics company.

"I have bought red envelopes, window flowers, lanterns, and a small cheongsam and mandarin jacket for the children, " she told Xinhua excitedly.

This is the first time for her to receive a package from China through a cross-border logistics company, said Zhao.

"The company's service is professional, reassuring and fast. Thanks to them, we can have a prosperous Spring Festival in Japan, " she added.

Zhao and her family have lived in Japan for years, and they used to bring her children back to China to celebrate the Spring Festival. They stayed in Japan to spend the traditional Chinese holiday this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although she can send New Year greetings to her parents via WeChat, China's popular multi-functional social media platform, she still misses the atmosphere of Spring Festival in her hometown.

According to Zhao, though living abroad, she hopes her children can understand the cultural customs of the Spring Festival, taste authentic Chinese foods and learn Chinese culture.

Unlike first-time cross-border buyer Zhao, Zhang Jing, who lives in the Japanese capital of Tokyo, orders Chinese foods and items from China to Japan almost every month.

"The taste of my hometown serves as a relief of homesickness," she said, adding that almost all kinds of domestic delicacies and instant foods rarely seen in Japan can be conveniently delivered through cross-border online shopping.

The continuous development of China's logistics system not only enables Chinese consumers to buy overseas goods, but also makes it easy for overseas shoppers to purchase Chinese goods online.

The Shanghai-based Dongyan Express, a logistics company dedicated to shipping Chinese products to overseas shoppers, delivers packages from China to more than 30 countries and regions around the world, with Japan accounting for about 80 percent of its total shipments.

Guo Wenbin, founder of the company, told Xinhua that during the coronavirus epidemic, the company's business has increased significantly.

Cainiao Global, the official global parcel tracking platform of China's Alibaba Group, reported strong growth in the fourth quarter of last year due to rapid increase in orders for cross-border services and international retail businesses.