Rise of e-commerce

“In the past, buyers spent an average of at least two months on offline negotiations, products selection, and waiting to receive free samples by mail [to complete one order-processing cycle]. It was an extremely time-consuming process. The Amanbo e-commerce platform can significantly improve interpersonal business transactions,” Liao Xuhui, CEO of Amanbo, told Chinafrica, adding that he hoped Amanbo can become a catalyst to push forward Sino-african trade.

China’s trade with Africa has soared from $10 billion in 2000 to $220 billion in 2014, and dropped to $179 billion in 2015, Chinese customs data showed. In 2015, China exported $100 billion worth of goods to the continent, with consumer goods accounting for about 18 percent of that amount.

Liao first became involved in trade with African countries in 2000. Seeing the rapid development of e-commerce in China, he had the idea of developing an online platform specially designed for Chinaafrica trade. In 2009, he founded Shenzhen Right Net Tech Co. Ltd., and quickly launched a market research on the viability of a cross-border e-business platform.

Through extensive investigation in more than 30 African countries, Liao came to the conclusion that China’s mature e-business model could hardly be implemented in African countries due to differences in network infrastructure, product demand, and