A livestream is held directly at a warehouse in the bonded zone. [Photo/hangzhou.com.cn]

During this year's Double 11 shopping season, 44 imported products on online marketplace Tmall surpassed 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) in sales within just two weeks — thanks to the booming bonded warehouse livestreaming model pioneered in Hangzhou.

In the Hangzhou Comprehensive Bonded Zone, livestreamers promote overseas goods directly from supervised warehouses, offering real-time sourcing and customs-tracked authenticity.

The model, developed by Hangzhou High Store Technology, integrates livestreaming, digital traceability, and supply chain services. By 2024, the Qiantang section of the bonded zone had built six public livestream warehouses, hosted nearly 1,000 livestreams, and achieved over 600 million yuan in total sales.

Policy innovation has been key. Leveraging its free trade zone, comprehensive bonded zone, and cross-border e-commerce pilot zone, Hangzhou has been able to solve long-standing pain points like slow customs clearance and complex return procedures. It became China's first bonded zone to allow domestic processing of cross-border retail returns, reducing both costs and processing time.

Moving forward, Hangzhou will work to deepen integration with high-standard trade agreements like CPTPP and DEPA while developing new bonded-integrated services such as R&D, logistics, and art exhibitions.

From Double 11 success to daily cross-border convenience, the Hangzhou model is reshaping global trade with faster, smarter, and more trusted e-commerce.

Customs officers inspect imported goods at a warehouse. [Photo/hangzhou.com.cn]