ZHENGZHOU, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The second Global Cross-border E-commerce Conference opened Thursday in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province.

Highlighting cross-border e-commerce's role in world trade, the two-day conference will have panel discussions on quality oversight, regulatory innovation as well as standards and rules in the sector.

"The development of cross-border e-commerce could help to innovate trade patterns, lead consumption trends, create more jobs and prompt industrial restructuring," said He Jinping, vice governor of Henan, at the opening ceremony.

Cross-border e-commerce trade has flourished in China in recent years. Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that China's e-commerce exports surged 41.3 percent to 33.65 billion yuan (5.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, while imports rocketed by 116.4 percent to 56.59 billion yuan.

In Henan alone, there are over 4,000 registered e-commerce companies.

"The fast expansion of cross-border e-commerce has offered opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises, long marginalized in global trade, to participate in world trade," said Long Yongtu, conference president.

More than 1,600 people from international organizations, government agencies, e-commerce platforms and express delivery companies attended the event.