Tmall Global Proves Crossborder Is Still The Smartest Way Into China

According to data from Alibaba Group, China’s leading cross-border marketplace Tmall Global welcomed 2,415 new overseas brands in 2025—that’s double-digit growth in new flagship stores from 2024.

Two takeaways from this Tmall Global data. First, it reflects sustained demand among Chinese consumers for international products, particularly in the wellness, beauty, food & beverage, fashion, and lifestyle categories. Tmall Global reported the fastest growth in toys, outdoor, baby food, and pet. Brands are coming to Tmall Global to meet growing Chinese demand in these categories. Later this month we’ll be dropping a report on these categories and how they performed 2025—stay tuned.

Second, cross-border e-commerce is a highly effective channel for brands to launch in China. There’s lower regulatory cost and investment needed to set up CBEC stores, and bonded warehouses in China’s FTZs allow you to ship to consumers as though you have a general trade operation. For consumers, the experience is almost identical.

WPIC Marketing + Technologies has done our part in launching brand partners from around the world on Tmall Global and hosting the China Crossborder Summit with Tmall Global and Nicole Lin’s team in October. Looking forward to bringing more brands online in 2026.