人民币坚挺提振海外消费

The strong exchange rate of the yuan against such currencies like the euro and Aussie dollar is benefiting Chinese consumers who buy goods overseas. Cross-border e-commerce companies are also grabbing opportunities to gain more market share.

Li Shaohong, the mother of two, is a frequent buyer of milk powder from overseas. Li is sensitive to the fluctuation of forex rates and she recently bought a large amount of milk powder because of the depreciated euro against the yuan. And she found that the depreciation of the euro even outpaced the delivery speed of her purchase.

"It needs three weeks or one month for the goods I bought to arrive, and the exchange rate may fall a lot during this period. So it's not as a good deal as I expected," Li said.

To shorten the purchase period, Li asked her friend to buy milk powder from Hong Kong because it only takes three to five days for delivery. But as the Hong Kong dollar which is pegged to the US dollar appreciated recently, she spent even more to purchase the milk powder that way.

"In the past, I only spent 1,050 yuan to buy five buckets of milk powder, but now I have to spend 100 yuan more," Li said.

E-commerce dealers are also influenced by the fluctuating forex rate. Xiao Xin works for a company dealing in milk powder and health care products imported mostly from Europe and Australia. Due to the depreciated euro and Aussie dollar, products priced in the yuan are cheaper and that helped the sales of Xiao Xin's company increase.

"The Aussie dollar has dropped a lot, and for us, it can create a good space for our purchase, and provide more competitive retail prices," Xiao said.

E-commerce dealers expect that the relatively strong yuan will bring a prosperous period for their growth.