The city of Ordos in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region recently got the green light from the State Council – China's Cabinet – to set up a cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone.

In so doing, Ordos became one of 27 cities across the country to obtain such support and it is expected that the approval will help optimize the city's business environment and lead to a higher level of opening-up for the economy.

A national cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone can only be set up with the approval of the State Council.

It aims to encourage the exploration and innovation of technical standards, business processes, supervision models and informatization development – in cross-border e-commerce transactions, payments, logistics, customs clearances, tax rebates, foreign exchange settlements and other areas.

In recent years, Ordos has attached great importance to the development of its cross-border e-commerce.

The city has invested more than 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) to improve the construction of cross-border e-commerce support facilities and launched preferential policies and measures to facilitate its development.

Moving forward, plans are for it to focus on the development of cross-border B2B – or business-to-business commerce. The idea is to guide the healthy and sustainable innovation and development of cross-border e-commerce, in order to promote the wider high-quality development of trade.