Smart tech underlined for stronger e-commerce

The cross-border e-commerce sector, which increasingly relies on artificial intelligence, must address critical challenges in the areas of governance, standards and compliance to support its robust global growth, leading experts said in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on Friday.

They also highlighted other issues, such as imbalances in digital infrastructure across countries and regions, policy differences and a lack of AI technology regulation, during a symposium on international cross-border e-commerce sponsored by the World Internet Conference.

"We aim to leverage AI for better governance in cross-border e-commerce by developing a practical framework and adopting an open approach to international standards," said Kim Kichan, chair of the Organization for Trade Development and Standards Cooperation and the International Council for Small Business.

Kim stated that the standards could foster innovation and fairness, particularly benefiting vulnerable small and medium-sized enterprises.

He proposed that an efficient AI governance system could ensure market fairness, data transparency and privacy protection. Additionally, he emphasized the need to establish a global standard for interaction, recognition and trust mechanisms to assist SMEs in navigating complex regulations, while also recommending developing low-cost, easily accessible AI tools to empower SMEs and create a fair competitive environment.

Kim said Shenzhen, with its strong digital economy, numerous AI companies, supportive policies and extensive international trade network, could serve as an ideal testing ground for developing accessible AI solutions for compliant cross-border e-commerce.

Jane Drake-Brockman, co-convenor of the Asia Pacific Services Coalition, said that the provisional outcomes of the new agreement on e-commerce by the World Trade Organization might be announced at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cameroon early next year.

It is expected to cover key areas such as Customs process optimization, electronic authentication, electronic payments and the prohibition of tariffs on electronic transmissions, said Drake-Brockman.

She believes that the introduction of the new agreement will address the current situation of fragmented regulations among countries and the lack of global trade governance, which are hindering industry development.

The current growth rate of global trade in services is about twice that of goods trade, with digital service trade accounting for over half of total global service exports, reaching 54 percent in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region.

Xue Hong, vice-chair of the World Internet Conference Cross-Border E-Commerce Working Group and a professor at Beijing Normal University, emphasized that compliance is the cornerstone of the healthy development of cross-border e-commerce.

Xue pointed out that AI-automated trading systems give rise to AI contracts in code form, such as smart contracts, which present challenges to existing contract law due to their non-human-readable nature.

Regarding the data compliance risks in training large AI models, she suggested that companies adopt a federated learning approach, deploying models across decentralized data sources.

This approach allows for model upgrades through the sharing of insights and knowledge rather than centralizing data, thereby integrating compliance requirements into the technical design phase and balancing transactional needs with legal compliance.