At 9 PM on September 15th, the lights were still on at the Guangling District New Employment Groups Party-Mass Service Center. A cross-border e-commerce training session had just concluded, yet many attendees gathered around the podium, encircling Liu Qi, a cross-border e-commerce industry expert from Pangu Group. The class had originally been scheduled to end at 8:30 PM. Liu Qi spoke on topics ranging from the prospects of cross-border e-commerce to the operational processes involved, and from product selection strategies to how AI could assist at various stages, finally wrapping up around 9 PM. Unexpectedly, even after the session ended, attendees were reluctant to leave, clustering around him with questions.
Inquiries like "Is it too late to enter this field now?" and "What direction should product selection take?" were answered one by one by Liu Qi with careful attention. The theme of this session was "Cross-Border Plus OPC." Among the attendees were those who had rushed over after work and others who had traveled specifically from surrounding townships. Although 30 spots were planned, more than 40 people showed up on site.
She Wenjing, 35, listened with particular intensity. She handles onboarding and promotion for an e-commerce platform, coming into contact with many aspiring store owners, but she has never actually started her own venture. "I've helped so many others get onboarded, but when it comes to my own case, I still don't know where to begin," she said. "This class laid out the entire cross-border process, clarifying which steps can leverage AI and which require personal oversight. Now I have a much clearer sense of direction."
"For individuals, the hardest parts of cross-border trade are product selection and logistics. If the park can handle sourcing and shipping, the entry barrier drops significantly." Liu Qi noted that the threshold for traditional foreign trade is too high for individuals, with hurdles like inventory stocking, warehouse leasing, and hiring at every turn. He explained that Pangu's cross-border e-commerce OPC project, launched in partnership with Guangling New City, aims to pool resources such as product catalogs, logistics, and compliance, while using AI to assist in product selection, enabling one person with a single computer to sell goods globally.
Zhang Rui, General Manager of Pangu Group's Yangzhou Project, said that since the Pangu Cross-Border E-Commerce Industrial Park set up operations in Gualling New City, it has focused on industry clusters like plush toys and hotel supplies, serving and connecting with nearly 200 enterprises. Over 50 companies within the park have already expanded overseas through cross-border e-commerce channels. The newly launched OPC project will initially provide a 300-square-meter space in the park, equipped with 20 to 30 workstations. It packages a shared resource matrix combining supply chains, international logistics, tax and compliance, AI tools, entrepreneurship guidance, and office space.
"Participating individuals do not need to build heavy assets on their own; they can move in and start working immediately. Enrolled trainees can also trial the operations for half a month, with the park offering full-process guidance. Only after passing the trial period does a formal contract get signed." After several years of development, cross-border e-commerce in Gualling New City has created a certain clustering effect. In the last two years, the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has pointed the sector in a new direction. The introduction of this OPC project is precisely to seize the opportunity presented by AI empowering individual entrepreneurs, allowing more people to engage in cross-border e-commerce with a lower threshold and conduct business overseas.
A representative from Gualling New City added that the project will be rolled out in stages, gradually expanding its incubation capacity, with the goal of establishing a province-level benchmark incubation platform for cross-border super-individuals by 2030.