Securities Times reporter Wu Jiaming Li Mingzhu Hu Huaxiong

  Under the epidemic, foreign trade people have both joys and worries.

  Dongguan is known as the "world factory" and is deeply integrated into the global industrial chain. The repeated ups and downs of the epidemic have generally affected local foreign trade companies.

In addition, the constantly emerging "variables" such as changes in the international situation and poor shipping logistics are also placed in front of foreign trade people.

Securities Times reporters visited the living conditions of local enterprises and felt the changes in Dongguan's foreign trade "barometer" at close range.

  Variables increase under the epidemic

  Foreign trade enterprises seek new paths

  The epidemic has been a lingering topic in the foreign trade industry in recent years, and the old problems have not been solved, and new "variables" have entered the market one after another.

Under the spread of the epidemic, the high production and logistics costs of foreign trade enterprises in Dongguan are an inevitable focus.

  Lao Huang is the head of a knitting factory in Shatian Town, Dongguan. The company also has an office in Shenzhen.

Laohuang's factories mainly produce ribbed fabrics, which are supplied to foreign trade agents of some brand clothing, and the terminal products are mainly exported to foreign countries.

He told reporters that in the past two years, business operations have been significantly impacted by the epidemic.

  "Under the impact of the epidemic, the production and operation plans of enterprises are sometimes disrupted, and the transportation of required raw materials is not as smooth as before. In addition, once epidemic prevention measures are taken in the areas where employees and customers are located, it will also bring certain uncertainty to the production and operation of enterprises. Not only In this way, the repeated global epidemics, coupled with the tense situation in Russia and Ukraine, and the rising prices of crude oil and chemical products, have increased the cost pressure of related companies." Lao Huang said that the main product produced by their factory is ribbed fabric, and the main raw material of the product is Cotton and chemical fiber (polyester), etc., cotton prices have risen continuously since the epidemic, and recently chemical fiber (polyester) has been affected by the rise in crude oil prices, prices have also risen a lot, and the company's production costs have increased a lot.

  Recently, a news about the closure of Dongguan Humen Nanzha International Stationery Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has been circulating on the Internet.

In fact, news of some Dongguan foreign trade factories closing their doors has come from time to time.

What makes Lao Huang gratified is that because his factory is located in an industrial area, most of the employees live and eat in the industrial area, and there is no need to commute long distances, so that the employee arrival rate has always been high, and the operation of the production line is more guaranteed.

Recently, except for the increased financial pressure and the lack of "making money" before, the company and its factories have generally maintained normal operation.

"We will persevere and get through this difficult time."

  Persistence is a portrayal of an "old foreign trader" like Lao Huang.

In the face of soaring freight rates by sea, land and air, many small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises in Dongguan are also quite helpless, and try their best to explore a variety of solutions.

  "The supply and demand information of small and medium-sized foreign trade companies and logistics companies around us is asymmetric, and the freight cost has been maintained at a high level. The week when Shenzhen was closed, it actually had little impact on our exports. The terminal operations are basically normal, and some can go to Guangzhou. The biggest impact is that when Dongguan takes measures to close and control, our goods cannot go out." The logistics director of a furniture foreign trade factory in Dongguan told reporters, "For example, the operating costs of the terminal, documents, etc. Fees and billing fees are constant throughout the year, and export miscellaneous fees due to unstable shipping schedules have skyrocketed, such as warehouse rental, container rental, car pressing, and container pressing costs. "

  A staff member of a freight forwarding company told reporters that due to the epidemic, it is very common to delay the delivery of counters.

"I installed a cabinet today. The shipping schedule on the wharf has changed. The installed cabinet will not be able to enter the wharf because it is not within the receiving time of the wharf. You need to find a storage yard to store the cabinet first, and then go in when the time is up. As a result, there will be an additional cost of more than 2,000 yuan. And this is only the base number, and the cost is increased by the day. If the value of the goods is relatively low, the 2,000 yuan may be the profit of the goods in the container, and even have to add money to it ."

  The above situation is a situation that most foreign trade enterprises in Dongguan will encounter. Mr. Xia, general manager of a precision instrument mold company located in Chang'an Town, said that the impact of the epidemic on the business has been intermittent for three years. This leads to the delay of some orders, and some customers will incur default costs related to the delay in delivery, but in general, the biggest impact on mold companies is the decline in overseas orders and the increase in international transportation costs.

  "The company's products are mainly exported to Europe and the United States. Due to the continuous increase in transportation and logistics costs, especially for heavy goods, such as auto molds, a set of several tons to dozens of tons, in addition to production costs plus freight, basically and customer The domestic production price is similar, or we can find a nearby country to produce it, so it will not be made for us." Mr. Xia was a little helpless, "The output value and added value of this type of mold are the highest, and the remaining orders are some Light-weight parts and molds have limited profit margins. Therefore, we are also trying to expand the domestic market, but the competition is indeed fierce. We also invest a lot of resources in the full-scale machining of molds and the production of precision parts, hoping to walk on two legs. , to achieve transformation.”

  Zheng Kai (pseudonym), the owner of a factory in Dongguan, has been a little annoying recently: his factory originally mainly produced export products such as speakers.

Under the global epidemic, the shipping time of products has been greatly prolonged due to the obstruction of shipping.

Zheng Kai told reporters that the company shipped a batch of goods in April last year, and the customer did not receive the goods until November last year. In the past, customers could receive the goods in just two months. Due to the extended shipping time, some orders were placed a long time ago. Full payment has not been received so far.

"I don't really want to make foreign orders now." Zheng Kai said.

However, fortunately, Zheng Kai has opened some other product production lines in the past two years, mainly for the domestic market, completely making up for the loss of the original foreign trade product order decline.

  "Relocation to the Mainland"

  For the foreign trade industry, even if there are many orders, you may not be able to sit back and relax, and risks often meet unexpectedly.

  Chen Li (pseudonym) set up a mobile phone backlight module accessories factory in Tangxia, Dongguan. Affected by the epidemic, the factory was closed for a week in March.

"We can produce 80,000 products per day on average, and the daily sales are about 200,000 to 300,000 yuan. You can imagine the loss in a week." Fortunately, Chen Li's factory has recovered at full speed. Production, but he told reporters, "Because employees must carry out nucleic acid tests on time every day, some workers cannot work overtime normally, which still affects some production capacity."

  The epidemic has brought a chain reaction to the upstream and downstream of the entire foreign trade industry chain. Although there is still no shortage of orders so far, variables such as raw materials and transportation still exist.

"Different sealing and control measures were adopted in various places some time ago. Our customers are mainly second- and third-tier brand mobile phone manufacturers, and their products are mainly exported overseas. Now they are also unable to order cargo ships, and some goods have been scheduled to be shipped until the end of April. "

  "In order to avoid similar transportation risks, customers will now give us more orders to make inventory first, so that overseas orders at least have the goods available. After all, in order to ensure that the goods are delivered on time, even if the freight is high, the owner is willing to pay. "However, the current sufficient orders still make Chen Li feel a little worried.

  The epidemic has spread a sense of insecurity to these foreign trade practitioners who have been firmly rooted in Dongguan for many years.

Chen Li paused for a while, smoking a cigarette, and said, "Changes in foreign orders may have a greater impact on first-tier manufacturers. For factories like us, which are accessories suppliers for second-tier and third-tier brands, shipments from Southeast Asia and other countries are also affected. It is very large, so there are relatively many sources of orders, but it cannot be taken lightly. This round of orders is mainly caused by the imbalance of foreign supply and demand. Due to the epidemic, foreign factories have shut down or reduced production on a large scale, and orders have been given to China. However, with the global epidemic With the changes in prevention and control, will foreign orders continue?" The person in charge of a company to be listed in Dongguan told reporters with clear figures that orders in 2022 will be reduced by 10% to 20%.

  In fact, not only Dongguan, but also under the combined influence of the epidemic and other factors, foreign trade industry chain enterprises in other cities in the Pearl River Delta, which are also important foreign trade enterprises, also have a similar situation.

Ma Qiang (pseudonym) is a repairman in a consumer electronics manufacturing company in Shenzhen. He told reporters that his company mainly produces notebook computers, tablet computers and other consumer electronic products, but it is not a first-line big brand, and its products are mainly for overseas debtors. developed countries or regions.

Due to the sharp increase in the global demand for home office and home learning under the epidemic, the company's product sales have increased significantly since the second half of 2020.

Ma Qiang said that for employees like him, the most direct change is that in the past two years, he has become very busy, often working overtime until very late, and correspondingly, the monthly salary has also increased from 5,000 yuan to 7,000 yuan in normal years. To over 10,000 yuan, the year-end bonus has also increased significantly.

However, overseas demand has shown signs of easing since this year, and wages have fallen from the peaks of the past two years.

  In response to the risk of the epidemic and the possible reduction of overseas orders, many foreign trade people in Dongguan have begun to take new measures.

  Chen Li said that for them, the epidemic has entered its third year. In order to better avoid the impact of the spread of the epidemic, he also chose to "diversify investment": go to the mainland to reinvest and set up factories. Even if one factory is closed, there are other factories that can guarantee capacity.

  "Of course, choosing to set up factories in different places is not just because of the epidemic. Now the Pearl River Delta, especially Shenzhen and Dongguan, have relatively high labor costs, taxes and other expenses. For example, our factory employees can get a maximum of about 15,000 yuan per month. Now many cities in the Yangtze River Delta and other cities have provided very good policies and preferential tax rates in order to attract related industries." Chen Li said, "Taking our mobile phone electronic accessories industry as an example, there used to be many similar mobile phone electronic accessories in Chongqing. There are many factory clusters, and now there are also more in Hunan.”

  In this regard, some market participants said that in addition to being greatly affected by the epidemic, Dongguan's foreign trade exports also have industrial structure reasons.

In general, among Dongguan's export industries, many traditional industries are relatively substitutable, and many industries have been transferred to Southeast Asia and other places.

Therefore, it seems that the impact of the epidemic situation, but for cities in Dongguan and even the Pearl River Delta, such "foreign trade migration" must also be paid attention to.

  Multi-pronged approach to stabilize foreign trade

  Get through the blockages in the international supply chain

  Recently, the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Statistics released the economic data from January to February.

Affected by the complex and severe international environment, the domestic "triple pressure" and the repeated local epidemics, Dongguan's economy is under great pressure to stabilize growth.

To stabilize foreign trade is to stabilize the economy. As a major foreign trade city, the foreign trade import and export value of Dongguan in January and February this year reached 213.36 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%.

Among them, exports were 132.92 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%, and imports were 80.44 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.8%. The growth rate of import and export ranks first among the top five cities in Guangdong Province in terms of total domestic and foreign trade.

  In order to solve the difficulties encountered by foreign trade enterprises in Dongguan in terms of goods, logistics, and supply chains affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the government is also taking active actions.

Recently, a symposium was held for representatives of key foreign-funded enterprises in Dongguan. Xiao Yafei, secretary of the Dongguan Municipal Party Committee, said that all relevant departments at all levels should focus on enterprises to further improve their service guarantee capabilities, coordinate and solve enterprise demands, and ensure that every item has a response. Provide favorable conditions for epidemic prevention, order grabbing, and production assurance.

  According to the reporter's understanding, in order to serve the foreign trade enterprises and port supply enterprises in Dongguan City, Dongguan Port has strengthened the independent control of Dongguan enterprises in the industrial chain, combined with the advantageous resources of Dongguan Port, and opened the Dongguan-Port water transport channel with the strong support of Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Commerce and Shatian Customs. .

According to the data, from the maiden voyage on February 22 to March 27, the Dongguan-Hong Kong waterway special line operated a total of 295 shifts, completing 15,379 TEUs of import and export containers.

Through the Dongguan-Hong Kong waterway special line, it can effectively meet the cross-border logistics needs of enterprises, and add a new foreign trade channel for the supply of goods to Hong Kong and the import and export of raw materials and finished products of Dongguan enterprises.

  With the gradual stabilization of the epidemic, Dongguan, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other parts of the Greater Bay Area have begun to resume work and production, supply chains and logistics chains have gradually returned to normal, and cross-border logistics companies are also seeking new solutions, such as accelerating the deployment of overseas warehouses to ensure Dongguan factory goods are shipped overseas in a timely manner.

  The reporter learned that some cross-border logistics companies in Dongguan have begun to build new overseas warehouses in Southeast Asia and Europe, so that foreign trade companies transport products to overseas warehouses in advance. After consumers place orders, products will be sent directly from overseas warehouses, which can greatly shorten consumption. The number of days that the customer waits for the arrival of the goods, thereby reducing the possibility of consumer dissatisfaction, and in the event of an emergency in the logistics, there will be no situation where the goods cannot be delivered.

Statistics from the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Commerce show that Dongguan companies have set up about 30 overseas warehouses in 10 countries and regions including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Thailand, and Indonesia.

  Not only that, many departments in Dongguan have recruited and helped enterprises to promote the full production of industrial enterprises, and Chen Li's factory has also received relevant information.

He showed the information he had received to reporters: the company complied with the relevant regulations of the Announcement of the State Administration of Taxation and the Ministry of Finance on Continuing the Implementation of the Announcement on Matters Related to the Delay in Payment of Some Taxes and Fees by Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises in Manufacturing (No. 2 of 2022). Taxes that have been paid into the warehouse after January 1 and belong to the fourth quarter of 2021 and January 2022 can apply for tax refunds (fees) and enjoy the extension of the deferred payment policy.

In order to reduce your burden, the tax department will take the initiative to handle the follow-up tax refund procedures for you and return the funds to the original account.

At the same time, the payment period of some related taxes and fees that have been deferred in the fourth quarter of 2021 will continue to be extended for 6 months, and the payment of some taxes and fees in the first and second quarters of 2022 can be postponed for 6 months.

  Whether it is the previous trade war or the new crown pneumonia epidemic, foreign trade companies have been pushed to the front row.

In order to reduce risks, Bai Ming, deputy director of the International Market Research Institute of the Academy of Commerce of the Ministry of Commerce, suggested that foreign trade companies have migrated to Southeast Asia in the past, but now there are also epidemics in Southeast Asian countries. manifested.

In the long run, some foreign trade enterprises need to prepare both hands, not to bet all their treasures in foreign markets, adjust the industrial structure, find new markets, expand the domestic market at the same time, and take an early step in transformation and upgrading.