BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) is helping to draw up a standard framework for cross-border e-commerce to regulate the sector.

The GAC is pushing for the formulation of international rules on cross-border e-commerce of the World Customs Organization (WCO), according to GAC official Zhao Ruxia.

The GAC and the WCO will hold the first cross-border e-commerce conference of world customs in Beijing from Feb. 9 to Feb. 10 to discuss new opportunities in the industry.

China's cross-border e-commerce is a bright spot in the foreign trade sector. Around 220 countries and regions were covered by China's cross-border e-commerce network in 2016, with a turnover of 5.85 trillion yuan (900 billion U.S. dollars), up by 28.2 percent year on year.

In September last year, China set up more cross-border e-commerce zones. The first zone was set up in Hangzhou in 2015 with the addition of another 12 cities, including Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing since 2016.