OZON, one of Russia’s largest online retailers, has opened an office in Shenzhen, as the demand for Chinese products keeps soaring. From home appliances, laptops and smartphones to clothing and daily necessities, the wide range of Chinese products sold on Ozon fills gaps due to the pull-out of Western companies after the breakout of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Bilateral trade will become more complementary and diversified, analysts said, and the trade, which surpassed 1 trillion yuan (US$150 billion) during the first 10 months of this year, is on track to surpass US$200 billion by 2024. Ozon Global, a division of Ozon, opened an office in Shenzhen as its Chinese headquarters to boost cross-border sales to Russian shoppers on its platform, according to Simon, managing director of Ozon China. Simon said Ozon plans to attract at least 100,000 Chinese sellers to the platform by 2024, and to elevate the gross merchandise volume (GMV) of Chinese vendors 10 times two years later. The company already has more than 10,000 active Chinese sellers. Chinese products now account for 90% of Ozon’s cross-border trade. According to Simon, the sales of Chinese products soared in the second and third quarters, rocketing about 25 times compared with the same period last year, and the number of active Chinese sellers rose 18 times, which reaffirms Ozon’s decision to come to China. The company said there is surging demand for Chinese products in Russia, because China — as a manufacturing powerhouse — has rich products and appealing price advantages. “Electronic products such as smartphones, laptops and computer parts, as well as small home appliances and clothing, are most welcome in Russia,” Ozon said, giving a list of Chinese popular brands including Xiaomi, Neatsvor, Huawei and Honor. Cai Jun, vice president of international business of Beijing Puppy Vacuum Cleaner Group Co, said that the company set up a store on Ozon in the first half of 2022, and home appliances such as vacuum cleaners manufactured by the company have been quite popular, witnessing 20-30% monthly growth in sales. (Global TImes) | 