China's Tianjin revs up foreign trade to fuel growth

The company's main product is foldable and washable heat transfer printed carpets. "At a trade fair in Germany in early January, we received carpet orders worth 4 million yuan (about 583,000 U.S. dollars)," said Bai Hongwei, manager of Kaili.

"There are still many inquiries and additional orders from overseas customers recently, so we purchased new equipment and increased the carpet production capacity by more than 20 percent," said Bai, adding that the company's business is expected to usher in explosive growth this year.

The booming orders at the beginning of 2023 marked a robust rebound in foreign trade in Tianjin, giving confidence to many local companies, meanwhile injecting new momentum into the global economy.

At the warehouses of the Tianjin Xinyu Color Plate Co., Ltd., tens of thousands of steel coils are densely stacked, waiting to be shipped to domestic and overseas customers.

In early January, the company exported nearly 10,000 tonnes of steel coil products to Israel. "Our products have been exported to many countries, such as Brazil and Chile," said Liu Yuehua, chief engineer of the company.

The company has an annual comprehensive production capacity of 3.5 million tonnes of coils. Liu is quite confident about the global market this year. "We plan to recruit 150 new employees to meet the increasing orders," Liu added.

Moreover, the municipal government also organized local companies to seek business opportunities overseas. On Jan. 15, the municipal commission of commerce led 30 foreign-trade companies to Japan and the Republic of Korea to garner overseas orders.

"During the visit, we arranged 14 business activities, and led companies to visit over 20 world-renowned companies," said Sun Jiannan, director of the commission.

"We introduced the development of the Chinese market and new sales models such as live streaming to overseas enterprises during the visit. They were very interested and looked forward to coming to China for trade and investment cooperation," said Zhang Yihai, head of a cross-border trade service company in Tianjin.

China's annual foreign trade value hit a record high again in 2022, as the country works to better coordinate epidemic response with economic and social development amid complex and severe domestic and international situations, official data showed.

Total goods trade reached 42.07 trillion yuan, up 7.7 percent year on year, topping the world for six consecutive years, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC). The figure exceeded 40 trillion yuan for the first time, said the GAC.

Following the country's optimized COVID-19 response, Chinese enterprises have accelerated their work resumption and are actively expanding overseas markets and tapping business opportunities, which not only boost their confidence in development but also show the vitality of China's economy, said Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin University of Finance and Economics.