China’s Health Care Leader Boosts X-Border eCommerce

Beijing Tongrentang Group (TRT), a leading Chinese pharmaceutical company, is amping up its cross-border eCommerce network with the launch of Tongrentang International.

A Silk Road of sorts, TRT International will allow for smoother passage of health care products between the American continent, Europe and China through its eCommerce portal, “Tian Ran Tao.”

Using TRT’s channels, the products, “regardless of whether they are produced in North America, Europe or Asia-Pacific regions, are directly shipped to TRT International’s duty-free bonded warehouse in Hangzhou, China, and delivered to consumers across the country,” the 346-year-old company said in a statement. “The company has a plan to carry over 1,000 health products by the end of 2015.”

The launch of TRT’s eCommerce business comes at a time when business-to-commerce (B2C) cross-border eCommerce is growing in leaps and bounds in China. Last year, the Chinese cross-border eCommerce market hit $657 billion and is expected to rise to $864 billion by the end of 2015, according to the China E-commerce Research Center.

The development of TRT’s eCommerce portal and the growth of other companies in the space is underpinned by a solid reformation of China’s banking policies. In June this year, the People’s Bank of China extended support to both domestic and overseas institutions that operate with Chinese currency.

“China will continue to facilitate renminbi internationalization by removing unnecessary policy parries and providing necessary infrastructure,” the People’s Bank of China reportedly stated.

With a backdrop of much less rigid policies and a solid backing from its parent company, Beijing Tongrentang Group — which possesses six sub-group companies, including three publicly traded companies listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, all of which are involved in health care management and the modern pharmaceutical industry — TRT might even propel the B2C growth rate faster than expected.

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