Chapter 492 New Economy and Old Rules: The Embodiment of the Internet Spirit
Before the Spring Festival Gala officially started, there was another activity: making dumplings backstage.
Wang Xiao also couldn't understand why there had to be such an activity, which left her hands covered in flour.
What frustrated her even more was that Ivan was now making dumplings faster than she was.
Last year during the Spring Festival, they were both at the same level, having been directly kicked out of the kitchen by Ms. Chen Yanqiu and Ms. Qian Xuemei.
A female leader from CCTV jokingly teased Wang Xiao, "You're so smart. Once you've taught men how to be men, we can be free to do whatever we want."
Wang Xiao dared not take credit and honestly admitted, "I didn't teach it."
Then the female leader laughed even harder.
Wang Xiao thought for a moment and added, "Russians also eat dumplings, but they're smaller than these, and they come with all sorts of fillings."
I don't know what's so funny about that, but the female leader was laughing uncontrollably.
Especially when Ivan pinched off a piece of dough, shaped it into a little rabbit, and showed it to Wang Xiao—the Year of the Rabbit would be just around the corner after New Year's Eve.
Wang Xiao was also quite surprised. Not bad, this little rabbit seems even more adorable than last year.
She immediately emphasized to the staff member next to her, "This must be steamed thoroughly."
A bunch of dumplings were wrapped and boiled in pots, laid out like a buffet for them to choose from.
Ivanov only tried one of each filling, eating less than Yura, who wasn't particularly fond of Chinese food.
Chen Yanqiu asked worriedly, "Is the filling not to your liking? Let me find you something else to eat?"
She felt the dumpling filling here lacked the fresh sweetness she had prepared herself. No wonder Ivan, a grown man, ate so little. This child usually has a good appetite; when he goes to the market with her, he can eat from beginning to end, enjoying everything he eats.
Ivanov was quite principled, and solemnly emphasized: "You can't eat too much at night."
Wang Xiao couldn't help but laugh when she saw him unconsciously suck in his stomach. She advised, "Let's eat more, otherwise the Spring Festival Gala will last a long time, and it's not good to go out for a late-night snack in the middle."
Sigh, that's the downside of watching the Spring Festival Gala live.
It's already considered a diplomatic event; it can't be like watching TV at home, where you can just run out and set off fireworks halfway through.
This year's Spring Festival Gala was of a particularly high standard, which refers to the level of the audience present.
Logically speaking, since Ivan is Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, and he took the initiative to lead a delegation to attend the Spring Festival Gala, in accordance with the diplomatic principles of "equality, responsiveness, and high standards," China should also send a Deputy Prime Minister. The most likely candidate is Vice Prime Minister Qian, who previously served as Foreign Minister.
However, the international situation in 1999 was quite delicate.
The United States’ military presence in the Baganad region, along with its bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Sudan, demonstrates its intention for aggressive expansion.
At this juncture, the Russian delegation's initiative to attend the Spring Festival Gala instantly elevated what was once a simple economic and trade cooperation and cultural activity to the level of global geostrategic competition. It carries a strong political signal.
Moreover, despite Ivan's repeated public statements that he will not run for the next Russian presidency, he remains a leading candidate both domestically and internationally, and public opinion generally believes that even if he does not run, he is very likely to become the next prime minister.
In this context, the level of reception and the number of accompanying personnel from Huaxia were significantly raised, with Vice Chairman Hu attending the event.
This is truly unprecedented in the history of the Spring Festival Gala.
Prior to this, only in the 1990 Spring Festival Gala did the then General Secretary and Premier personally attend the gala, but that was only at midnight, where they delivered New Year's greetings, and the whole process lasted about six minutes.
Unlike this time, I was actually sitting in the stadium watching the entire Spring Festival Gala.
It's easy to see just how much importance the Chinese government attaches to this.
It demonstrates Russia's sincerity in cooperation to jointly address strategic pressure from the West.
As a result, Russia will certainly have to take this seriously.
Ivan instantly abandoned his body management and immediately switched to a cool and stylish dumpling-making mode.
When they arrived at the Spring Festival Gala venue, before they even sat down, Wang Xiao and Ivan exchanged a glance and both saw the same emotion in each other's eyes: regret.
Yes, it's not good to go out for a late-night snack during the Spring Festival Gala, but there are all kinds of fruits and snacks provided on the tables in the front row, so how could you be hungry?
If they had known about these things, they wouldn't have just eaten dumplings.
They both love these big pine nuts, but unfortunately they don't have room for them now.
When Chen Yanqiu heard her daughter's regret, she glanced at her and uttered a single word, "Heh," which conveyed her entire emotion—"Oh dear, you're talking like it's the truth, as if your mouths will finally be shut up tonight."
Every year, we eat until our bellies are full after the New Year's Eve dinner, and then we keep eating non-stop.
Sigh, sometimes Chen Yanqiu couldn't figure out what material the girl who came out of her belly was made of.
Why isn't Xiaoxiao nervous?
Yes, yes, yes, it seems that the vice chairman doesn't sound that impressive. There are several vice chairmen! Moreover, Vice Chairman Hu's reputation is not as good as that of the other veterans.
but!
Just like the Japanese often vote but don't know who their country's prime minister is, in China, it's assumed that everyone knows who the next successor will be five years in advance.
In 1999, Vice Chairman Hu was slated to succeed him. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would be successfully elected at the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2002.
Just thinking about this made Chen Yanqiu feel breathless.
But look at her, sitting at the big round table, with Vice Chairman Hu just across from Ivan, she acted as if nothing was wrong, her eyes fixed on the oranges on the table.
Hehe, if it were someone else, Chen Yanqiu would guess that they were nervous and were trying to distract themselves by not looking at them to avoid making themselves even more nervous.
Doesn't she know her own daughter well?
This girl is definitely wondering if the oranges taste good.
That's why mothers have such sharp eyes; they know you better than you know yourself!
The opening song and dance, "Jade Rabbit Welcomes Spring," had just ended, and while the host was greeting everyone, Wang Xiao and Ivan had already started shelling pine nuts.
Thank goodness, this year's Spring Festival Gala seating arrangement no longer uses the traditional dais-style seating, but instead features a special, slightly private "VIP round table area," just like sitting in your own living room. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for the two of them to pull any tricks.
The two were very in sync, their eyes fixed on the host, smiling broadly, and their hands moving quickly.
By the time they finished their crosstalk performance, they had already shared a tangerine, which was quite sweet.
Bananas are out of the question; they're a bit dry. The heating's quite strong in the house, so oranges would be much more refreshing.
Vice President Hu does not speak Russian, but he can speak English. Therefore, there was no official interpreter arranged between the two, since they were watching a performance and only needed to have a simple conversation.
Oh my, that song "Eighteen Bends of the Mountain Road" really does have a voice that can bend into eighteen bends.
Even though Ivan couldn't understand a word of the song in Chinese, it didn't stop him from clapping enthusiastically. Some art forms can transcend language barriers and resonate in everyone's hearts.
After "The Mountain Road Has Eighteen Bends" was sung, Richie Jen performed "The Girl Across the Way".
Honestly, the stars of this era are truly enduringly popular. Before she time-traveled, Richie Jen would never have had to worry about selling out his concert tickets.
Even the elderly Zhao Lirong is still going strong; her skit "The Veteran Takes the Field" was quite brilliant. "Titanic" was incredibly popular last year, and when the male and female actors in the skit struck Jack Rose's classic pose, they weren't actually standing on the ship, but on a tractor.
The moment the video appeared, even those in the Russian delegation who couldn't understand the language were amused by the scene.
Wang Xiao acted as a translator for the people at the table while watching the performance, occasionally stuffing some food into her mouth, and seemed quite happy.
To be honest, the Spring Festival Gala programs of this era are quite entertaining. The acrobatics are amazing, and the crosstalk performances by Feng Gong and Niu Qun are especially hilarious.
Their self-proclaimed Russian pop stars are equally handsome men and beautiful women. Regardless of their singing and dancing abilities, the boy and girl groups are certainly eye-catching when they stand there.
Besides, they sing and dance really well.
From "Moscow Nights" to their own medley of songs, every single one was wonderful.
Wang Xiao is proud of her discerning eye, as she personally selected several of the artists. Should she consider releasing an English album for them next? Additionally, managing their online accounts and finding ways to increase their popularity are also part of their upcoming tasks.
Our own resources should be used properly by our own people.
When the song and dance performance ended, Ivan led the delegation members onto the stage and, together with the Russian actors, extended New Year's greetings to the Chinese people, wishing everyone a happy Spring Festival in Chinese, which he had been practicing diligently since the previous night.
A cheer erupted in the studio; this moment could be considered a small climax of the entire performance.
Ivan returned to the round table and whispered to Wang Xiao in Russian, "I'm really afraid I'll say something wrong."
Wang Xiao smiled and gave him a slice of tangerine, saying in a low voice, "Well said, your pronunciation is clear and accurate, and you're absolutely right."
To be fair, Ivan is quite talented at learning languages.
When they first met, Ivan spoke very halting English and had virtually no ability to communicate.
Once he realized that times were changing and that English was important for their business, his English improved by leaps and bounds, quickly reaching a level where he could communicate without any problems.
Now, even though his vocabulary is limited, he has very little accent, and at first glance, he sounds quite fluent in Chinese.
Ivan felt reassured after receiving affirmation, and shared half of the remaining tangerines with her, whispering, "Sweet, very sweet."
It was indeed sweet; Wang Xiao even thought it tasted a bit like canned fruit.
After the song and dance performance, there was another comedy sketch, "Cheering Up," performed by Huang Hong.
This skit wasn't very funny. In fact, it wasn't a funny skit at all, because its protagonist was a laid-off worker who ran a car repair stall.
It wasn't until the line, "If you're suffering, think of Saddam Hussein; if things aren't going well, look at Clinton!" was spoken that Wang Xiao couldn't help but laugh.
They really dared to do that in 1999.
If this line had been spoken before she time-traveled, it would likely have been considered politically sensitive and deleted outright.
You've started making fun of foreign leaders.
But apart from that, the skit was still not funny.
The members of the Russian delegation didn't laugh much after listening to Wang Xiao's translation.
Yura first listened intently, then frowned, looking at Wang Xiao with a puzzled expression: "Isn't he worried about what he'll do without a job?"
To put it bluntly, according to Russia's current policy, if you lose your job and go to the countryside to reclaim wasteland, you won't have to pay a single penny for the first five years. There are vast tracts of fertile black soil waiting for you to choose from.
In short, potatoes can feed you.
But the situation in China is even more difficult. China has so many people, but the area of arable land is limited, and there is hardly any wasteland.
The Down to the Countryside Movement in China back then turned all the land that could be cultivated into farmland, and it was impossible to give this land away for free to workers who lost their jobs.
It's not feasible for everyone to set up a car repair stall, is it?
Wang Xiao didn't answer; she was busy translating.
The translation just happened to go to, “The leaders kept talking to me, saying that the company would be reducing staff and merging factories. At that time, I expressed my opinion: We workers should think about the country. If I don’t get laid off, who will?”
As soon as she finished her trilled "r", a loud "bang" rang out and the tires on the stage were punctured.
Just moments ago, Huang Hong, who had been making high-profile statements about his noble character and voluntarily resigning, fell off his bicycle and collapsed, looking as if he and his partner Ju Hao had been blown up.
The atmosphere at the venue exploded; the entire studio was in an uproar, and the performance was absolutely phenomenal.
Whistling sounds rang out from the audience – indicating that although the Russian delegation had made a last-minute request to watch the Spring Festival Gala, the organizing committee had not replaced all the audience members with civilian clothes, and there were still many live audience members present.
Everyone clapped enthusiastically, and some even shouted "Bravo!"
Yura and the others were stunned, and after a long while, they finally managed to utter, "What a magnificent art of performing arts."
The actors on stage didn't utter a single word of complaint, but the punctured bicycle tires represented their lives! Their lives were being wrecked by one beautiful slogan after another.
He subconsciously turned his head to look at Vice Chairman Hu at the round table, but he could only see the other man's resolute profile and his clapping hand; he couldn't see anything else.
The Chinese are always so adept at keeping their emotions hidden.
He subconsciously looked at Wang Xiao again, only to see that the other person was slightly frowning, staring at the actors on the stage, and he couldn't tell what his emotions were.
Ivan quietly peeled pine nuts beside Wang Xiao, without disturbing him.
She was thinking, though he couldn't figure out what she was thinking.
The skit ended with a hopeful mood—how could it not be called hope? The car repair stall hasn't even opened yet, but they're already dreaming about opening a car repair shop.
Wang Xiao remained lost in thought.
Even the subsequent performance of "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow," featuring Zhao Benshan, Song Dandan, and Cui Yongyuan, failed to engage her; she merely provided translation.
Fortunately, after the two skits, there was a retrospective of classic songs, so she didn't have to put in extra effort.
This finally gave her a chance to quietly ask Ivan, "Does international online shopping now account for export quotas?"
She really didn't understand this matter. Before she transmigrated, she hadn't paid much attention to it. Besides, even if she had, the regulations twenty or thirty years from now might not be the same as they are now.
Ivan was stunned, somewhat bewildered; he didn't know either. To his recollection, at least in Russia, there was no law that addressed this matter.
However, Russia's legal system is still in its infancy and cannot be considered a definitive answer. Moreover, he is not proficient in all Russian laws—that's simply impossible.
Wang Xiao then turned to ask Yura and Nemtsov, among others. These generally considered intelligent people were equally clueless, having absolutely no idea about this matter.
During the Soviet era, many of their exports were indeed restricted, and Western societies deliberately bought Soviet products that were considered advantageous to prevent the Soviet Union from obtaining sufficient foreign exchange.
But online shopping didn't exist back then.
By the time online shopping emerged, the Soviet Union was gone, Russian industry had shrunk considerably, and many export quotas were sitting idle, so there was no need to worry about it anymore.
Perhaps because they were talking so frequently, Vice Chairman Hu took the initiative to ask Wang Xiao, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Because the Russian delegation wanted to watch the Spring Festival Gala in a more relaxed way, they said that Wang Xiao was enough and there was no need to arrange a special translator, so there was indeed no dedicated translator at this round table.
Unless Wang Xiao relays the message, he really has no idea what they're talking about.
Wang Xiao only realized this now: Oh right, it's China that's sensitive to export quotas.
"Mr. Vice Chairman, I would like to ask whether goods purchased through international online shopping are included in the export quota?"
Vice Chairman Hu was taken aback by the question. He wasn't in charge of foreign trade, and besides, online shopping was a relatively new phenomenon in China, currently more of a formality than a substance.
Does it count? He really didn't know.
He shook his head and offered, "Let me ask the comrade in charge of this work."
Although he was not involved in the negotiations, and foreign trade and business cooperation were not within his current work scope, he was clear that the Russian delegation's visit to discuss cooperation was based on export quotas.
His intuition told him that the answer to this question might be crucial.
Vice Chairman Hu did not wait until the Spring Festival Gala ended before arranging for someone to inquire.
He turned his head and said a few words to the comrade next to him, who then quietly left the stage. About ten minutes later, the crosstalk performance ended, and a song and dance performance titled "Making Dumplings on New Year's Eve" was being staged. Only then did he turn back and quietly report his work to his superior.
Vice Chairman Hu sat up straight, smiled and nodded to Wang Xiao: "I've already asked, and the relevant comrades are verifying it. I'll let you know when there are any results."
But how could Wang Xiao have the patience to wait? She's always been an impatient person; she wants the answer to her question delivered to her immediately.
But she couldn't rush Vice Chairman Hu, so she could only smile, nod her thanks, and then make her way to the bathroom without hesitation.
Well, the Spring Festival Gala lasts for such a long time, so of course they need to go to the bathroom in between. They can't possibly be like those scalpers on Wuzhou Airlines flights, having to rely on diapers to get through the long hours, can they?
Ivan saw her set off and stood up with her.
The security personnel who were watching closely immediately followed without hesitation.
After leaving the studio, Ivan asked Wang Xiao, "Where are we going?"
“Go make a call,” Wang Xiao whispered. “I’m such an idiot. I should have asked the website. Nobody knows more about online shopping than the website.”
Ivan followed with "uh-huh".
They borrowed a phone from CCTV and made a long-distance call—not a domestic long-distance call, but a call to Shanghai.
During the Chinese New Year, the person in charge of "WoMai.com" also returned to China to reunite with their family.
Upon receiving the call from his boss, he became quite nervous: "Oh dear, boss, I should be the one calling you to wish you a Happy New Year. Why aren't you giving me a chance to show off?"
Was he mistaken? The whole family stared at the TV for a long time and carefully compared the photos. They were absolutely certain that the person sitting at the VIP table was their boss, Mr. Wang.
When the camera panned over, Deputy Prime Minister Ivan was even handing freshly peeled pine nuts to the restaurant owner.
"I'll wish you a Happy New Year tomorrow. Now, let's get to work." Wang Xiao was cold and ruthless, completely disregarding that it was New Year's Eve. "You need to tell me now: will shipping the goods sold on the website to the United States affect our export quota?"
The website administrator was dumbfounded: "What export quota?"
Wang Xiao pressed on, asking, "Doesn't anyone require you to declare this? Exports require export quotas."
The person in charge scratched his head: "Nobody has ever told me about this. I need to ask again."
Wang Xiao had no patience to wait: "Ask now, ask right now, and give me an answer immediately."
They may have been out for too long, which made Vice Chairman Hu uneasy, so he personally followed them out to check on the situation.
Good heavens! I bet once the images of the top leaders from both Russia and China appearing in the studio one after the other are captured on television, people outside will be speculating wildly and saying all sorts of things.
But in reality, they were just waiting for a phone call.
Vice Chairman Hu followed Wang Xiao to the office where Wang Xiao had borrowed the telephone. Wang Xiao had barely greeted him when the phone rang, and immediately dropped him to answer it.
The website manager told her very confidently: No, no one has asked about export quotas, and no one asked them to apply for export quotas when they shipped goods.
Wang Xiao was completely confused. Why?
Logically speaking, European and American countries should be very sensitive to this issue, or rather, countries all over the world are quite sensitive to it; otherwise, they wouldn't initiate anti-dumping investigations every now and then.
The website manager was even more clueless than her. He didn't know anything about it, and nobody had asked him. He also knew people working at Amazon and eBay who had never heard anyone mention it either.
Vice Chairman Hu offered, "I'll have some colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Trade come over and talk to you. They should be more familiar with the situation regarding export quotas."
Everyone thought it made perfect sense. Why bother with the Spring Festival Gala? Why worry about whether people can have a peaceful New Year?
Better to die for your fellow Daoist than for this one!
Besides, look, it's late at night, and the Vice President of China and the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia are both busy. What's there to be embarrassed about letting you help them?
Thankfully, there were also officials from the Ministry of Foreign Trade present at the Spring Festival Gala, accompanying the guests at the VIP table, ready to answer their questions, especially those concerning the cooperation agreement that had just been signed by both sides.
Strictly speaking, it's not a question from a foreign guest, but rather a question from a domestic guest.
However, given Wang Xiao's somewhat special status, Minister Shi was on high alert and explained in detail what the export quota was and how it was operated.
Then, in front of Vice Chairman Hu, he called the comrade in charge of this work and, after repeated inquiries, confirmed that no country currently has any explicit legal provision that online shopping should be included in export quota management.
The responsible official offered his explanation: First, online shopping is a new phenomenon, and legislation in any country lags behind; it's impossible for it to keep up in every situation. Second, online shopping requires certain basics, at least a computer and a stable internet connection, so it's currently largely exclusive to developed countries. Third, while export quotas appear to be bidirectional, they are often used by developed countries as a means of restricting foreign trade with developing countries.
The third point, in particular, determines that developed countries lack the incentive to legislate on online shopping and include it in export quota restrictions.
Since they are the main consumers of online shopping now, why would they set up barriers for themselves?
Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized, "Ah, that's exactly what happened."
Wang Xiao's heart settled back into her chest. She hugged Ivan tightly, jumping and skipping with joy: "We can bypass trade barriers through online shopping, and Russia's export quotas won't be used up so quickly."
Seriously, you have to believe in the strength of Chinese manufacturing. Even joint ventures can achieve a global market monopoly.
It's important to know that before she transmigrated, a single town in China could account for more than half, or even 80% or 90% of the global production capacity of a single product.
She spoke quickly and urgently: "This way, other factories can also ship their goods through online shopping without taking up export quotas. They can also use this time to accumulate funds and lay the foundation for the next step of transformation."
Yes, everyone knows that low-end processing industries must transform.
This kind of development model, like that of Toray Textile, is in line with the future of textile companies.
Look at their power source; now they only focus on research and development of new products. Their fleece products are all made using their complete technology and production lines.
Toray's flagship product is carbon fiber. The profit margin for carbon fiber used in airplanes is much higher than the profit margin for making bed sheets, duvet covers, and clothes by sewing machines.
But the problem is, transformation is never that simple.
The textile industry alone will see millions of workers laid off—a truly terrifying number. With so many people needing to change careers, where will society find enough jobs to accommodate them?
It needs time and space to process, otherwise it will only wear people down to death.
When Wang Xiao spoke quickly, her voice would be a little muffled, but Ivan completely understood what she meant. He happily picked her up and spun her around, exclaiming, "That's wonderful, Wang! That's really wonderful!"
The unipolar world order dictates that they can only act according to the rules set by others; otherwise, they will be isolated by the world mainstream and completely unable to integrate into the global economic system.
Finding the parts of the existing rules that are in your favor is a huge victory!
Those in the Ministry of Foreign Trade are naturally more sensitive to international trade.
After Minister Shi explained it again, Vice Chairman Hu nodded and his expression relaxed: "This is a new approach, a very important one."
Online shopping is indeed a new thing for China, and in many aspects, it's a blank slate. But since there's a demand for it, it should and can flourish.
Minister Shi chuckled while sighing softly, "I'm just afraid that once I get up, I'll be restricted again."
Ultimately, we still need to accelerate the WTO accession negotiations and join the WTO; only by imposing more restrictions can we resolve the issue.
Vice Chairman Hu smiled and said, "So you'll have to work hard."
Fortunately, the tense international situation last year, Russia's tough stance at the United Nations, and France's loud condemnation made the United States feel the crisis and become more positive about China's accession to the WTO.
They need to take this opportunity to finalize the matter as soon as possible.
With the question answered, the VIPs returned to the Spring Festival Gala venue, just in time for Hong Kong singer Anita Mui to sing "Moonlight Before My Bed," followed by a performance of "The Song of the Seven Sons" by teachers and students from Macau.
Wang Xiao even suspected that the program schedule had been rearranged, otherwise it wouldn't have been such a coincidence.
She was too emotional before and forgot that this Spring Festival Gala was of great significance, so she let Ivan stay with her while she waited for the call.
In fact, he should have returned to the scene much earlier, and he should never have let Vice Chairman Hu find him.
Ivan comforted her, whispering, "It's alright, they definitely won't release the footage of us leaving."
Wang Xiao thought about it and realized that it seemed to be true, which put his mind at ease.
Even so, no matter how exciting the subsequent programs were, she couldn't watch them attentively, let alone translate for the members of the Russian delegation.
However, Nemtsov and his men couldn't care less about that now.
When Ivan told them that they could circumvent export quotas by shopping online, Nemtsov realized that the era of the resurgence of Russian light industry had truly arrived.
They no longer need to worry about their export quotas on both sides being quickly exhausted, so they can roll up their sleeves and work with full force.
Compared to the promising future of their own work, even the most spectacular artistic performance can't capture everyone's attention.
Everyone was distracted, with smiles appearing on their faces from time to time. They were thinking about how to proceed with the next step of the work. Then they heard the applause and joined in.
To be honest, judging from their performance, when they appeared on television, everyone saw that the Russian delegation was very satisfied with the Spring Festival Gala program, watching it with great enthusiasm and laughing non-stop.
After enduring countless hours, the long Spring Festival Gala finally came to an end when "Unforgettable Tonight" began to play. Nemtsov didn't even have time to wait until he was in the broadcasting hall before he eagerly asked Ivanov, "Dear Ivanov, look how late it is, don't go to sleep, let's have a good chat."
Ivanov felt like he was about to stab him in the face with a glare.
Listen to this! Is this even human language? How can someone with a mouth that's 37 degrees Celsius utter such icy words? Even the winter in Moscow can't compare to the chill of your vicious words.
Nemtsov retorted, "Didn't you say we needed to speed things up? If we're slow and wait until they patch up this loophole, won't we miss another opportunity?"
Even his intuition told him that if he missed this opportunity, Russia's light industry would never have a chance to recover. This was because they had a powerful neighbor, China, whose industrial development was progressing at an astonishing pace.
They must seize the opportunity to differentiate themselves and establish themselves quickly.
Wang Xiao was speechless: "There's no need to be in such a hurry, not even letting this one night go. The loopholes won't be patched up so quickly."
On the one hand, the competitive advantage of European and American countries in international online shopping will not be broken in just a few days.
On the other hand, there is the issue of regulatory costs.
Once Wang Xiao has set the general direction, his mind becomes very active.
She quickly realized that the core of quota control is the "country of origin of goods" and "import behavior," which regulates the cross-border trade circulation process.
The traditional quota system was designed for bulk commodity trade, and the regulatory targets were large importers and exporters.
However, international online shopping is a retail sales activity. For the tens of thousands of small personal parcels sent from post offices or courier companies, customs can hardly verify whether each one has used up its quota.
That workload was too large, and the cost far outweighed the benefits.
From a management perspective, it's not worthwhile.
These small parcels can only be classified as "personal items" or "low-value goods," rather than as bulk trade goods subject to quota controls.
Unless the scale of these small parcels becomes large enough to seriously impact the quota system, the government will not spend time and effort specifically addressing them.
In this era of burgeoning e-commerce, it represents a huge regulatory gray area and loophole.
Wang Xiao believes that it will definitely be brought under regulation in the future. Once the technology catches up, it will be subject to regulation.
But 1999 was the early days of the internet.
The early spirit of the internet was precisely disintermediation and subversion of tradition.
International trade, like international politics, needs a new paradigm, and online shopping is the ultimate manifestation of the disruptive spirit of the internet in international affairs.
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[Winking] Good morning!
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