Foreign trade in the Year of the Dragon: Thousands of groups go overseas to grab orders begins

　　The drama of "going overseas to grab orders" in 2024 has begun. On January 30, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade held a regular January press conference. It was introduced at the meeting that in 2024, it will focus on launching the "Thousand Delegations Going Overseas" operation, targeting important economic and trade partners such as Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, ASEAN, and Latin America, and organizing more than 1,000 A batch of enterprise groups “go overseas”.

　　Relevant analyzes pointed out that from a market perspective, this year’s “Thousand Groups Going Overseas” campaign is actively extending to emerging markets such as ASEAN and Latin America. Through this layout, Chinese companies are expected to capture more business opportunities globally and expand a broader development space. . From a product perspective, in the past year, the total exports of the "three new" products represented by new energy vehicles, photovoltaic products, and lithium batteries exceeded one trillion yuan for the first time, an increase of 29.9%. In the new year, as the world attaches increasing importance to environmental protection and sustainable development, the field of new energy and environmental protection will usher in unprecedented development opportunities.

Extension to emerging markets

　　On January 30, Yang Fan, spokesperson of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, introduced at a regular press conference that the "Thousand Missions Going Overseas" operation will be vigorously carried out. Facing important economic and trade partners such as Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, ASEAN, and Latin America, more than 1,000 batches of enterprise groups will be organized to go overseas for exhibitions, inspections, and negotiations, helping enterprises to obtain orders and expand markets, and support local investment promotion.

　　Hong Yong, an expert at the 50-person China Digital and Real Integration Forum think tank, told a Beijing Business Daily reporter that the main difference between this year’s “Thousand Groups Going Overseas” operation and previous years lies in its large scale and clear target market, “demonstrating China’s expansion into diversified international markets. determination”. Zhu Keli, executive director of the China Information Association and founding director of the Guoyan New Economic Research Institute, further told a reporter from the Beijing Business Daily that from the perspective of the market targeted, this year’s “Thousand Groups Going Overseas” operation has shown a broader global vision. It is no longer limited to traditional markets such as Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea, but actively extends to emerging markets such as ASEAN and Latin America. "This diversified market layout not only reflects Chinese companies' profound insights into the global market, but also reflects their strategic wisdom in proactively adapting to changes in the global economic and trade situation. Through this layout, Chinese companies are expected to capture more business opportunities around the world, Expand a broader space for development." Zhu Keli said.

　　In fact, extending to emerging markets has become the consensus of major foreign trade provinces. In the field of foreign trade in 2023, private enterprises' imports and exports to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative will increase by 9.2%, and imports and exports from traditional markets such as the EU and the United States will increase by 2.3% and 2% respectively. Emerging markets continue to develop.

　　Among them, in 2023, Guangdong's imports and exports to countries co-building the "Belt and Road" were 3.04 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1%, accounting for 36.6% of the total import and export value, an increase of 0.3 percentage points. In general, the proportion of emerging markets has increased, and trade with developed economies has picked up.

New energy welcome machine

　　What products will the corporate groups going overseas bring to expand the market?

　　From January 28 to February 6, Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, led a delegation of Chinese industrial and commercial enterprises to visit Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. This was the first collective overseas exchange visit for Chinese industrial and commercial enterprises this year. The delegation has a strong lineup. Currently, more than 100 companies have signed up to participate, including both central and state-owned enterprises as well as private enterprises, covering agriculture and food, machinery manufacturing, e-commerce, transportation, construction and building materials, light industry and textiles, medical equipment, finance, Investment consulting services and many other fields.

　　There are many fields and rich categories. Among them, the "three new things" represented by new energy vehicles, photovoltaic products, and lithium batteries may be the eye-catching "stars" of foreign trade. In 2023, the total export value of the "three new products" was 1.06 trillion yuan, exceeding the trillion yuan mark for the first time, an increase of 29.9%.

　　Regarding business opportunities in the new year, Hong Yong believes that business opportunities worthy of attention may cover the fields of green economy, high-tech products, industrial chain cooperation, service trade and investment cooperation, and accompanied by policy support and service innovation, create new opportunities for enterprises. Advantages of going overseas. Zhu Keli has the same idea. He believes that the field of new energy and environmental protection is undoubtedly a hot spot.

　　"With the increasing global emphasis on environmental protection and sustainable development, this field will usher in unprecedented development opportunities. The fields of intelligent manufacturing and digital economy are also worthy of attention, not only representing the future direction of industrial development, but also providing Chinese enterprises with opportunities Opportunities for transformation, upgrading and leap-forward development. At the same time, fields such as medical health and cultural tourism also show huge market potential, which is worthy of Chinese companies' in-depth exploration and layout." Zhu Keli said.

Gearing up in many places

　　Groups are organized to go overseas, and many places across the country are ready to launch operations. On January 4, the Wenzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau led a team to Hong Kong, China, to carry out the first Chinese New Year outbound market expansion operation, organizing 24 companies from Yongjia, Longgang and other places to participate in the exhibition, with a total of 39 booths. This is Zhejiang’s first business trip this year The group went overseas to increase orders. This year, Zhejiang also plans to continue to carry out the "Thousands of Groups and Tens of Companies" campaign to expand markets and increase orders. In the first quarter, the province will strive to support more than 30 key exhibitions and organize more than 50 groups and more than 1,000 companies to expand overseas markets. In 2024, the province will strive to organize more than 1,000 groups and more than 10,000 companies to expand overseas markets, and support more than 100 provincial key exhibitions.

　　It is also a major foreign trade province. In Guangdong, the relevant person in charge of the Shenzhen Municipal Commerce Bureau told a Beijing Business Daily reporter that currently, the Shenzhen Municipal Commerce Bureau “does not organize groups”, but there is a support policy that will fund companies to participate in overseas exhibitions, including small and medium-sized enterprise exhibitions. group. In addition, from the perspective of the central and western regions, on January 24, the first delegation of Chengdu industrial enterprises went overseas to target Russia, Kazakhstan, and the United Arab Emirates in Asia and Europe, embarking on a journey of "promoting exchanges and expanding markets."

　　Accelerate the cultivation of new momentum for foreign trade, and more measures will continue to assist it. Yang Fan introduced that more high-quality economic and trade platforms will be built, 1-2 internationally influential brands will be built around green, low-carbon, Internet economy and other fields, and the China-Africa Entrepreneurs Conference, the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit will be successfully held. Activities such as the Latin American Entrepreneurs Summit help companies carry out trade and investment in ASEAN, the Middle East, Latin America and other regions. At the same time, we actively support the development of new foreign trade formats. Conduct in-depth research in the fields of "three new things" in foreign trade, intermediate goods trade, trade digitization, cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouses, etc., to generate more high-quality research results and provide intellectual support for the introduction of relevant policies.

　　Beijing Business Daily reporter Fang Binnan Ran Lili/Wen Yang Yuehan/Photo