Foreign trade is set sail again in the off-season (new economic orientation · New Year observation)
Our reporter Luo Shanshan Wang Weijian Wang Yongzhan Dou Hanyang
"People's Daily" (March 22, 2021 Edition 02)
In 2020, my country’s total import and export value of goods trade was 32.16 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.9%, setting a new record high, becoming the only major economy in the world to achieve positive growth in goods trade, fully reflecting the strong resilience and comprehensive competitiveness of my country’s foreign trade. .
In the first two months of this year, the total value of my country's import and export of goods trade was 5.44 trillion yuan, an increase of 32.2% over the same period last year. Among them, the export performance was particularly strong, with a year-on-year increase of 50.1%.
The increase was obvious, and the “off-season was not weak”, continuing the trend of continuous improvement in imports and exports from negative to positive since June last year.
With the continuous advancement of high-level opening up and standing at a new high point, what is the prospect of my country's foreign trade?
What are the new international cooperation and competitive advantages?
How to promote high-quality development?
Reporters visited various places.
Driven by technology research and development——
Cultivate new strengths by cultivating innovation
Good market conditions and busy foreign trade orders.
Even during the Spring Festival holiday, the operating rate of the production line of Suzhou Saiwu Applied Technology Co., Ltd. exceeded 80%.
"There are so many orders, the big guys are very motivated." Wu Xiaoping, the chairman of the company, said with a smile.
As a leading company in the field of global photovoltaic backsheets, at the beginning of last year, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Saiwu's overseas market demand shrank and exports declined.
How to do?
Expand new customers in Southeast Asia, Japan and other regions; send anti-epidemic materials, video technical services for foreign customers, and consolidate partnerships...a package of countermeasures to stabilize market share in a timely manner.
"For the company, it is more important to practice internal skills, and technological innovation is the core competitiveness." Wu Xiaoping said.
Market research is the first step.
In India, Southeast Asia, Africa and other regions, there are more corrugated steel sheets on the roof, and only lightweight photovoltaic products can be used.
Once a lightweight transparent backplane with high strength, good toughness and strong corrosion resistance was launched, it quickly occupied a large market.
R&D investment is indispensable.
"Don't look bad, with it, the key components of domestic inverter air conditioners have made breakthrough progress." In the exhibition hall, Deng Jianbo, the company's R&D director, picked up a small light yellow component the size of a coin. It took 5 years and tens of thousands of experiments. , Investing tens of millions of yuan, successfully developed the heat dissipation circuit substrate of this IGBT inverter semiconductor module.
Professional talent is the key.
In 2020, the company's R&D personnel will increase from 70 to more than 100, and this year will increase to 150.
Not long ago, the company established a craftsman school, which held regular classes to promote the training of a group of "multi-ability workers" who can take the lead.
Not limited to photovoltaic material companies, Saiwu is transforming into a high-tech polymer material company, applying its products to new energy vehicles, high-speed rail, 5G communications and other fields.
"We will also set up R&D centers overseas to increase exports with technological innovation," said Wu Xiaoping.
"Innovation is the driving force for the high-quality development of trade and the key to increasing the value-added level of the commodity value chain." Wang Xiaohong, deputy director of the Information Department of the China International Economic Exchange Center, said that quality and structural issues are still the main contradictions in the development of my country's foreign trade.
In the face of rising factor costs, declining traditional comparative advantages, and low added value of export commodities, it is necessary to accelerate the transformation of the driving force of foreign trade growth from factor-driven to innovation-driven.
Wang Xiaohong suggested that, on the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen independent research and development capabilities and corporate comprehensive innovation capabilities, take technological innovation as the lead, comprehensively promote product innovation, business model innovation, and business model innovation, increase fiscal and tax policies, and support enterprises to increase R&D investment; on the other hand, On the one hand, the implementation of self-owned brand cultivating actions to support enterprises to create brands, increase varieties, improve quality, and select a number of well-known brands to focus on cultivation.
China-Europe Express Guarantee——
Open up new markets by smoothing the logistics chain
In the Chengdu International Railway Port, a China-Europe Express train carrying 50 freight counters slowly departed from the central station.
This train, loaded with auto parts and power tools, will provide mechanical equipment for the German Bosch Group.
"This year we will send 3,800 container counters for Bosch Group, and also send equipment to Mercedes-Benz, Honda and other companies. It is estimated that the total foreign trade value of the company will exceed 4 billion yuan for the whole year, more than double that of 2020." Chengdu Levante The person in charge of the company Chen Jiangnan said.
The development of Levante is a microcosm of the more balanced regional development of my country's foreign trade.
In 2020, the import and export of foreign trade in the central and western regions will increase by 11%, accounting for 17.5%.
In Chen Jiangnan's view, the strong support of China-Europe Express is indispensable for the performance to become popular.
"With the help of the China-Europe Express, our equipment can already be shipped to all of Europe, providing strong support for opening up new markets." He said that the company's foreign trade business was once affected by the epidemic last year.
To this end, they are looking for new product suppliers on the one hand, and on the other hand, they have begun to expand the scope of the foreign trade market.
The construction of the Chengdu-Chongqing Shuangcheng Economic Circle has brought opportunities. The company sees the advantages of Chongqing's industrial manufacturing, contacts related manufacturing companies, and provides related machinery and equipment for German Volkswagen and other companies.
"Chongqing and Chengdu have different routes for the China-Europe train, so it is convenient for us to choose the route to send goods according to our needs." Chen Jiangnan said.
The development of foreign trade, logistics first.
To stabilize foreign trade, we must first stabilize the global logistics chain.
In 2020, the epidemic will hit the global logistics industry severely, with many flights suspended and ports closed, global shipping capacity is tight, international shipping prices continue to rise, the supply of containers is in short supply, and transportation costs are rising.
The high-efficiency, wide-route, stable all-weather, low-cost China-Europe Express has become an important bridge and green channel connecting Eurasia.
In 2020, the number of China-Europe express trains reached a record high. In the whole year, 12,406 trains were opened and 1.135 million TEUs were delivered, an increase of 50% and 56% respectively year-on-year.
"my country's foreign trade situation is still complicated and severe this year, with opportunities and challenges coexisting." said Zhuang Rui, secretary of the Party Committee of the National Institute of Opening-up of the University of International Business and Economics. With the gradual recovery of global trade and rising demand for freight, international transportation capacity remains tight and needs to be consolidated. The basis for the recovery of foreign trade is to maintain the continuity, stability and sustainability of the relief policy for enterprises.
A few days ago, the Ministry of Commerce stated that it is working with the Ministry of Transport, the National Development and Reform Commission, the General Administration of Customs and other departments to do a good job in improving maritime transport capacity, improving the efficiency of China-Europe freight trains, increasing container supply, and improving trade facilitation, and strive to promote international logistics. Smooth operation.
With policy intensified, foreign trade entities are also seizing opportunities.
"We conducted low-frequency vibration tests on trains to verify the feasibility of importing semiconductors through railways." Chen Jiangnan said that this year he plans to develop semiconductor import trade through China-Europe Express.
In March, the company's 30,000-square-meter warehouse leased in the Comprehensive Bonded Zone of Chengdu International Railway Port will also be put into use, which can store more equipment, ensure the timeliness of logistics, and win more foreign trade orders for enterprises.
Cross-border e-commerce help——
Expanding new business formats to stimulate new momentum
"Before May of last year, the company's orders fell sharply, with almost no new additions." Speaking of last year's foreign trade situation, Ma Chuanjun, general manager of Ningbo Jiaze Kitchenware Co., Ltd. shook his head repeatedly.
The epidemic is spreading around the world, logistics and transaction costs are rising, and small and medium foreign trade business owners like Ma Chuanjun who have been selling offline for a while have no idea.
Switching to cross-border e-commerce is a good way.
But the platform, sales, warehousing, after-sales, etc. know nothing about it, and Ma Chuanjun hasn't known how to start.
In June last year, under the guidance of the Ningbo Municipal Government, 22 companies and universities jointly initiated the establishment of the China (Ningbo) Cross-border E-Commerce Alliance, hoping to gather superior resources and help small and medium foreign trade companies avoid detours and reduce operating costs through platform sharing.
Hearing about the preparation of the cross-border e-commerce alliance, Ma Chuanjun quickly signed up.
"The alliance integrates the resources of the governing units and provides us with an online sales platform. It is clear where the products are sold and which are sold well." Ma Chuanjun said, "In the past, the response to overseas consumption trends was relatively lagging, and now almost every two or three The product will be updated in the next month, and it will be more confident in the face of overseas competition.” In addition, the goods are stored in the overseas warehouse of the governing unit, and the delivery timeliness is equivalent to standing on the same starting line with foreign sellers.
"The alliance has formed a variety of marketing models such as third-party platform sales, overseas warehouse offline distribution, and corporate overseas independent station sales." said Wu Wei, chairman of the TAG Heuer Group, a member of the alliance, through integrated customs clearance, foreign exchange settlement, tax refund, logistics, and cross-border The functions of general logistics contracting and cross-border e-commerce store operation can provide complete supply chain services for foreign trade manufacturing enterprises to transform cross-border e-commerce.
Catching up on the "hit ride" of cross-border e-commerce, small and medium foreign trade enterprises have a new export model.
According to statistics from the Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the alliance has led to a total of approximately 24 billion yuan in foreign trade exports during the six months since its establishment, with remarkable results.
This year, the alliance aims at high-quality "cluster" going overseas, and plans to drive foreign trade exports to exceed 30 billion yuan and serve tens of thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises.
In 2020, my country's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports will be 1.69 trillion yuan, an increase of 31.1%, becoming an important force in stabilizing foreign trade.
New forms of foreign trade such as cross-border e-commerce are booming, but supporting facilities such as e-commerce platforms, logistics, payment, warehousing, and after-sales still need to keep up.
"The government and enterprises should jointly promote the efficient and standardized development of cross-border e-commerce, strengthen supervision, and do a good job of traceability." Ma Shuzhong, dean of the China Digital Trade Research Institute of Zhejiang University, said that it is necessary to accelerate the improvement of the comprehensive cross-border e-commerce service system and further Give full play to the advantages of new business formats.
Cross-border e-commerce companies should also pay attention to global political, economic, and health dynamics to improve their anti-risk capabilities.