From cross-border e-commerce to large AI models: A post-90s girl who has been living in Europe for 10 years went abroad twice

In the 1950s, "Made in Japan" meant low prices and third-rate products to the world. By the rise of Japanese home appliances in the 1970s, at its peak, 30% of the color TV sets in the U.S. market were Japanese products. In the 1980s, Japanese car brands such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan took over the home appliance market and went global. Later, Japanese animation, games, music and other cultural and entertainment industries began to be exported overseas and became pillar industries. From cheap clothing to two-dimensional products, Japan’s core products exported overseas have changed several times in the past seventy years. This shows from the side that a country’s mainstream products overseas are never fixed and will change with the country’s industrial capabilities. This changing script is also being repeated among Chinese people going overseas today. In 2015, Li Luwei went to France from Ningbo to study. At that time, major domestic manufacturers had just begun to test the cross-border e-commerce business. Chinese products began to enter the European and American markets through online channels such as Amazon, AliExpress, and eBay, and cross-border logistics networks such as shipping began to form. Li Luwei, who is still a graduate student, also seized the opportunity and created a B2B2C e-commerce platform Import Market Sales (IMS) in 2017, linking China's industrial belt with Europe's local e-commerce platforms and final consumers. The platform focuses on the subcategory of outdoor furniture and has also created an independent website brand Avril Paris. In 9 years, without financing, the cumulative sales increased from 0 to 35 million euros. It has cooperated with more than 20 international and local e-commerce platforms in France and the United Kingdom, serving more than 80,000 direct customers. During a business trip to Morocco in 2025, Li Luwei noticed that many locals were discussing Chinese AI models such as DeepSeek. She realized that the world had changed and the opportunities to go to sea were also changing. One year later, Li Luwei left Paris and came to London to join ByteDance, responsible for the development of AI large model global partners and ecosystem development. Recently, she told us her entrepreneurial story over the past 10 years and her observations of the European market. The following is Li Luwei’s self-report. 1. Leading a team of 7 people to achieve a cumulative revenue of 35 million euros in 9 years, ranking first 10 years ago