(Economic Observation) Exports hinder China's foreign trade companies seeking breakthrough
China News Agency, Beijing, June 20 (Reporter Li Xiaoyu) While global trade has shrunk sharply, Chinese exporters are looking for a new way to break through.
Some enterprises are “exporting to domestic sales” and vigorously exploring the domestic market. In an interview with a reporter from China News Agency, Li Yaowen, chairman of Hubei Lierjia Commodity Co., Ltd., said that the company originally accounted for 70% of its exports and only 30% of its domestic sales. However, under the epidemic situation, the economic recovery in Europe and the United States was difficult, and external demand was weak, so they began to focus on the development of domestic sales and used the domestic market to make up for export losses. Now, the company is developing new products in response to the needs of Chinese consumers, and increasing its promotion on e-commerce platforms such as Tmall and JD.com, and has also found more than a dozen "net celebrities" for live broadcasts.
Cretone has established a domestic sales team since 2011. The company official said that since 2019, the company's domestic sales business has experienced rapid growth with the trend of short videos and live broadcasts, and the year-on-year growth rate from January to May this year is more than 50%. "Developing the local market is a good opportunity to reduce risks, especially in the current situation, it has a good decompression effect on enterprises."
Some are busy "offline to online" to step up the development of new formats and models.
Some companies have already prepared for this. Ningbo Zhongfu International Trade Co., Ltd. has set up a social media marketing team a few months ago, preparing to strengthen sales model innovation. The company's general manager Zhou Jinfen told reporters that in just two days, the company's live broadcast room at the Canton Fair has attracted more than 2,000 buyers, far exceeding expectations, and many staff members responded to buyer consultations overnight.
In Zhou Jinfen's view, accelerating "touching the net" has become the general trend of enterprises seeking to develop under the epidemic situation. After tasting the sweetness at this session of the Canton Fair, in addition to product innovation, the company will increase learning and investment in new formats and models such as online marketing and live broadcasting.
Wang Lixin, chairman of Dalent Crafts Co., Ltd., which specializes in fragrances and other products, said that the company has been transforming into a digital economy since 2016, and has a dedicated technical team. Feeling strenuous."
Some companies are still new to this. Shi Wenquan, general manager of Hebei Huaxinger Trading Co., Ltd., which specializes in steel pipes and other building materials, said that as a traditional foreign trade company, the company has long been accustomed to offline trade and has shortcomings in online marketing. The company participated in this online exhibition "with a state of mind", but the actual effect is good. In the future, we will use this as an opportunity to accelerate the transition to online.
The fast and slow transformation will exacerbate the differentiation of foreign trade enterprises. A company that does daily consumer goods admits that if the company's online marketing is done well and the live-streaming views are ranked high, there will be more exposure opportunities, and the latter will make it more difficult to attract customer traffic and fall into a vicious circle.
Analysts believe that as the epidemic accelerates global trade changes, the sooner the opportunity is taken to transform, the more likely it is to seize the opportunity in the "big shuffle."
In Wang Lixin's view, today's international trade order and international business ethics have undergone significant changes. When the world economy and trade prospects are full of uncertainty, it is very important for an enterprise to form an international strategic layout and ensure the stability of the supply chain. "Although the external environment is bad, it will not affect our progress, but will create new opportunities."
However, some experts reminded that it is the foundation of the rescue of Chinese export companies to do a good job of technological innovation and enhance "hard power".
Zhang Yansheng, chief researcher of China International Economic Exchange Center, said in an interview with China News Service that the fundamental way for China to stabilize its foreign trade should be to strengthen the research and development and innovation of high value-added products, promote structural upgrading, and enhance competitiveness. Only in this way can exports be truly stable and achieve high-quality development. (Finish)