Foreign trade firms in China see increasing orders amid stable trend in foreign trade
This aerial photo taken on March 13, 2023 shows a container terminal of Taicang Port, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua/Li Bo)
China's goods trade has shown a stable and upward trend in recent months, and the import and export growth rate in RMB has rebounded for four consecutive months, achieving positive growth in October and November.
Overall, the positive factors for the development of foreign trade continue to accumulate, and the steady growth trend continues to consolidate. Against this backdrop, many foreign trade firms in China have seen improvement in orders.
-- Active market
In December 2022, the commerce department of east China's Zhejiang Province led local enterprises to Europe to find orders, starting the campaign to find orders overseas. As of December 10 this year, a total of 2,709 delegations from Zhejiang have gone abroad for overseas exhibitions, economic and trade negotiations, investment promotion and other business activities, involving 15,384 enterprises and 31,485 people, and achieving intention orders exceeding 182 billion yuan.
The increase in orders has led to an increase in foreign trade data. According to the General Administration of Customs, China's export trade volume has increased year-on-year since August, and the export growth rate reached 12 percent in November, the highest since the second quarter. At the same time, the import trade volume has maintained positive growth for 10 consecutive months.
As for Zhejiang, from January to November this year, its total import and export value registered a year-on-year increase of 4.4 percent to 4.50 trillion yuan, with exports amounting to 3.28 trillion yuan, rising by 3.5 percent year on year and accounting for 15.2 percent of the national total.
The resurgence of foreign trade orders can also be seen in Yiwu, a city known as the "barometer of foreign trade".
From January to November this year, the sample transaction volume of the entire market in Yiwu exceeded 200 billion yuan, with the daily average customer flow surpassing 200,000 and the daily average foreign merchant flow surpassing 3,100, basically recovering to the level of 2019, noted Chen Zhixing, deputy general manager with Zhejiang China Small Commodity City Group Co., Ltd.
According to Chen, among its major markets, Yiwu has closer trade relations with the Belt and Road countries and other RCEP countries. From January to November this year, Yiwu's imports and exports to the Belt and Road countries totaled 292.47 billion yuan, up 22 percent year on year.
-- Recovery of demand
In November, China's exports to the United States ended a 14-month decline and turned to a growth of 9.6 percent, while the decline in imports and exports trade with Japan and the Republic of Korea narrowed. The growth rate of integrated circuit imports turned positive for the first time this year in November, and the import volume has increased for three consecutive months, indicating an improvement in the export demand for terminal electronic products.
On this basis, many listed companies continue to strengthen their stickiness with overseas customers by leveraging their technological advantages to advance their layout.
Jiangsu Gian Technology Co, Ltd. (Gian, 300709.SZ), a company specializing in the manufacturing of mobile MIM (metal injection molding) components, said that the company is continuously leveraging its advantages in technology and production capacity to cooperate with overseas clients in the development of cutting-edge new projects.
Some companies are also intensifying their efforts to tap into overseas markets, viewing foreign trade as the second "growth pole".
In September of this year, Xuzhou Handler Special Vehicle Company Ltd. (Handler, 300201.SZ) signed cooperation agreements respectively with Jiangsu Sainty Corp., Ltd. (600287.SH) and Shaanxi Tonly Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (Tonly, 834599.BJ), aiming to explore international markets.
Handler has specially established an international business unit, with the hope to leverage the systems, channels, and resources of its partners to timely obtain business information and product demands in the international market, seize the opportunity period of high prosperity in the international special vehicle market, and achieve its development goal of "doubling business performance and creating a new Handler", according to Chen Huiyuan, director and deputy general manager of Handler.
Chen noted that at the annual meeting of overseas dealers held by Tonly recently, Handler showcased multiple advantageous products and gained cooperation intentions from customers in Russia and Malaysia, among others.
With the continuous recovery of overseas demand, Yiwu's foreign trade growth in the fourth quarter of this year also far exceeded expectations.
On December 18, the annual express delivery business volume of Yiwu exceeded 10 billion pieces, becoming the first county-level city in China with an annual express delivery business volume exceeding 10 billion pieces.
According to an executive of Zhejiang China Small Commodity City Group Co., Ltd., many local factories have now seen enough orders and are unable to accept new ones, and there will be a wave of domestic and foreign trade orders for Spring Festival festive products such as New Year paintings and couplets in the fourth quarter.
-- Improvement expected
"At the MEDICA exhibition in Germany that just ended in November, the company's new products such as atomizers were highly praised by customers, and the number of orders signed on site far exceeded previous years. Currently, the factory is making every effort to ensure the production", said Zhang Yujun, a secretary of HONSUN (NANTONG) Co., Ltd. (HONSUN, 832278.BJ).
The feeling of HONSUN is a microcosm of the current recovery of foreign trade in many industries and regions.
According to Nanjing Customs, since Jiangsu achieved positive growth in foreign trade in October this year, its foreign trade continued to recover in November, with imports and exports registering 482.53 billion yuan that month, reaching a new high in nearly 15 months and increasing by 7.4 percent compared to the same period last year. In November, its exports amounted to 310.36 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.2 percent.
By industries, in the first 10 months of this year, the exports of mobile phones, automotive parts, and ships in Jiangsu increased significantly, registering 148.66 billion yuan, 67.73 billion yuan, and 52.58 billion yuan, respectively, an increase of 52.6 percent, 16 percent, and 38.1 percent, respectively.
In October this year, a shipping company affiliated to SUMEC Group Corporation (SUMEC) signed a long-term lease agreement with shipping giant Cargill Ocean Transportation for 12 newly-built Crown 63 PLUS bulk carriers.
In the first three quarters of this year, SUMEC's shipbuilding business successfully delivered 15 new ships, and it now has orders for nearly 60 ships in hand, with its production of foreign trade orders scheduled until 2026, according to a source from the company.
(Edited by Gu Shanshan, gushanshan.1987@163.com)
