THAI-SPEAKING tour guide Zhou Xingxing was skeptical when cross-border e-commerce company Tus-Innovation asked her to promote an 85-yuan (US$13) stylus to Thai consumers during a livestream weeks ago on Lazada, a leading Southeast Asian e-commerce platform.

“At first, I didn’t have a lot of confidence selling electronic products to online consumers in Southeast Asian countries since I thought they might not have the habit of shopping online,” Zhou said.

Yet Zhou introduced eight different electronic products in her first one-hour livestream, which was viewed by more than 1,000 people. “Although it was far less popular than the livestreams of major online influencers on domestic e-commerce platforms, I saw the potential market of the digital economy in Southeast Asian countries.”

Brands including Chinese tech giant Huawei have launched livestreaming promotions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Data shows that more than 350,000 brands and online shops participated in Lazada’s Biggest One-Day Sale on Nov. 11 last year.

In order to foster a bilateral e-commerce industry chain, Lazada’s cross-border Eco-Innovation Service Center was built in Nanning, Guangxi, in 2019.

The center has served more than 30 well-known Chinese companies, incubated over 400 small and medium-sized cross-border online retailers, trained more than 1,000 e-commerce recruits, and attracted more than 200 livestreaming hosts from Southeast Asian countries, according to the center.

“The rapid development of the e-commerce industry in China makes shopping more convenient,” said Hong Thi Linh. As a Vietnamese citizen living in Guangxi.(Xinhua)