Employees of a courier company sorting out delivery orders ahead of the Chinese New Year. PHOTOS BY GAO ERQIANG / CHINA DAILY

Rising demands

Chinese overseas online shopping rose sharply from 10 billion yuan in 2010 to more than 80 billion yuan in 2013. In 2014, it reached 129 billion yuan, up 60 percent year-on-year, according to data by Analysys.cn.

China's Ministry of Commerce forecasts that cross-border e-commerce will hit 6.5 trillion yuan in 2016 and it will grow at an annual growth rate of above 30 percent in the next few years.

Shanghai and Beijing are the leaders in terms of imported goods purchases for the Chinese New Year period, according to Tmall Global. Up to 70 percent of Shanghai buyers are females aged between 23 and 35 years old, and the most popular purchases include luxury bags and suitcases, Japanese cosmeceuticals, small home appliances and health products from Europe and Australia.

A total of 439 million yuan worth of goods were imported into Shanghai through cross-border e-commerce platforms throughout 2015, soaring nearly seven-fold year-on-year, according to thepaper.cn. Furthermore, the size of imported goods businesses in 2016 is expected to expand between five and ten times that of last year's, said an official from the city's cross-border e-commerce division.