In Sydney, a multi million dollar export industry starts with a simple trip to the shops.

在悉尼，只是逛一逛商店就能做起几百万美元的出口生意。

She labours with tins of infant food, supplements and skin lotions from a discount chemist to sell to customers back home in China.

她从折扣药店购买来成桶的婴儿食品、保养品和护肤液，再卖给中国的顾客。

Rika has worked part time for the past two years as a daigou, a freelance retail consultant.

丽卡已经做了两年的兼职代购，这是一种自由零售顾问。

She is glued to her phone and tablet, using the messaging app WeChat to build a network of 300 clients who aren't afraid to pay premium prices for trustworthy Australian goods.

她盯着手机和平板电脑，用微信建立起和300名客户的买卖关系，这些客户都愿意花高价购买值得信赖的澳大利亚产品。

In Australia, it's estimated there are 40,000 daigou, which means "on behalf of" in Mandarin.

据估计，澳大利亚有4万名代购。

The online shopping agents are almost exclusively from Chinese mainland, and are young migrants or international students looking for flexible ways to help cover their rent and university fees.

这些网络代购几乎全部来自中国大陆，他们是年轻移民者，或是想要做些时间灵活的工作来支付房租和学费的国际学生。

The epicentre of the trade is in Sydney, a city with a growing Chinese community and frequent direct flights to China, which makes doing business quicker and smoother.

悉尼是代购生意的聚集地，这里越来越多的中国人和频繁直飞中国的航班让代购生意做起来更加便捷。

Earlier this year, Beijing tightened regulations on cross border online shopping, but there is still money to be made, especially in baby milk formula, known as "white gold".

今年初，中国加强了对境外网购的管控，但是这类生意仍然有利可图，特别是对于以“白色黄金”著称的婴儿配方奶粉。

At the height of a boom last year in demand in China for milk formula, a buying surge from daigou attracted criticism in sections of the Australian media for leaving domestic shoppers empty handed.

去年中国对配方奶粉的需求最旺盛的时候，代购的购买狂潮致使本土购物者空手而归，因此招来澳大利亚媒体的抨击。

Daigou came to prominence in Europe by shipping luxury goods such as Gucci handbags to China.

代购在欧洲受到关注，是因为他们把这里的古琦包包等奢侈品卖到中国。

In Australia, the trade revolves around everyday items including food, beauty products, wine and clothes.

在澳大利亚，主要代购的商品是食品、美容产品、葡萄酒和衣服等日常用品。

"Some of the daigou… establish their own logistics, own e-commerce website and try to formally distribute the products. It is all about trust, that is what daigou is doing - building trust between their clients. They are small but they are a lot of people. If you add them together, they are huge."

“有些代购……建立自己的物流网络、电商网站，试图正规经销产品。这一切都关乎诚信，代购所做的就是与顾客建立信任。他们规模虽小，但是人数众多。如果你把他们加起来，规模就会变得巨大。”

Daigou typically charge premiums of about 50% above the retail price in Australia. But even allowing for transport fees, buyers in China invariably pay much less for the same product in a local shop - assuming it is available.

代购一般收取商品本土零售价格的50%作为代购费。但是即使算上邮费，中国买家们花的钱还是比在国内商店购买同样产品花得少——假设能买到的话。

The industry with its home spun roots does have its challenges. Customers must be convinced the goods they receive are genuine, and not fake, and that the supplier is reliable.

这个以家庭作坊式生意为根基的行业的确面临着挑战。代购必须让顾客相信他们收到的货物是正品，而不是假货，而且供应商要稳定可靠。

Consultants often livestream their visits to supermarkets and chemists to prove the authenticity of the goods they send. It is an industry founded on trust.

代购们经常直播他们逛超市和药店的过程，以此证明他们出售的货物的真实性。这是一个建立在信任基础上的行业。

"The income from daigou is reasonable compared to other working opportunities like working in a restaurant and that sort of thing. The profit is really enough to cover your rent. It is easy to do that," the 24 year old student told the BBC.

24岁的孙对BBC表示，“与在餐厅打工之类的其他工作相比，代购的收入更可观。收益足够交纳房租，做起来很简单。”

"The biggest reason for me to do daigou is to not work in some company or to work in a restaurant. It is flexible."

“我做代购的最大原因就是不想在某些公司或在餐馆工作。这份工作很灵活。”

These freelance exporters have created thousands of trading routes both small and big into China, a market that can be almost impenetrable for some Australian companies, and others from New Zealand. Increasingly firms are collaborating with specialist consultants to harness their contacts and expertise.

这些自由出口商们已经创造了成千上万大大小小通往中国的贸易通道，澳大利亚和新西兰的一些公司无法打入这个市场。越来越多的公司开始与专业的代购合作，利用他们的关系和专业知识。

"We think daigou are good for both the local economy... and they are very good for our business," says Peter Nathan, chief executive of A2 Milk, a New Zealand baby formula manufacturer that also operates in Australia.

皮特.南森是新西兰婴儿奶粉生产商A2乳业的首席执行官，该公司也在澳大利亚经营其产品。皮特表示，“我们认为，代购即能给当地的经济带来好处，也对我们的生意有益。”

"We clearly believe they are a positive force and it's fair to say that it is something we are assessing."

“我们十分确信他们是一股正面力量，可以说，这是我们正在评估的东西。”