Source: People's Daily, January 7, 2020

Core Reading

In 2020, China's foreign trade overcame the adverse effects of the epidemic and is expected to achieve the goal of "promoting stability and improving quality" for the whole year, demonstrating the resilience of China's economy.

In Taizhou, Zhejiang, multiple policies have been introduced to support foreign trade enterprises in securing orders, expanding markets, and promoting rapid export stabilization. From here, we can see the sustained positive development trend of China's foreign trade.

This New Year's Day, Zhejiang foreign trade distributor Xie Yong has been working overtime.

The foreign trade orders have been scheduled for March and April, and there have been continuous calls from foreign customers these days. Busy! "As the distributor responsible for the sales of Zhejiang Taizhou Zhengli Motor Co., Ltd. products, Xie Yong clearly felt that foreign trade exports were rapidly stabilizing.

Currently in Taizhou, there are more than just Xie Yong's busy dealers running around. Recent statistics from Taizhou Customs show that in the first three quarters of 2020, the export growth rates of small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises (with an export scale of less than 100 million yuan) in Taizhou City were -20.3%, 0.6%, and 1.9%, respectively. After experiencing a significant decline in the first quarter and stabilizing in the second quarter, the third quarter has steadily rebounded and reached a new high in total exports and growth rate for 2020 in November, with exports reaching 8.99 billion yuan, an increase of 49.6%.

Rapid growth in orders and sustained improvement in foreign trade

On the one hand, we need to go to the production workshop to monitor the progress, and on the other hand, we need to contact foreign agents to inform them of the order progress. Recently, the agent in charge of sales of automotive shock absorbers in Sanmen County, Taizhou City, Dai Hongjun, has been very busy. Every two to three days, foreign distributors contact Dai Hongjun via email or video, asking him to provide feedback on market customer demand.

We have distributors in more than 100 countries and regions, including Europe and America. In order to let them know the production situation of orders in a timely manner, the company has specially opened a 24-hour service hotline to provide order inquiry services, "Dai Hongjun told reporters." Since July 2020, there have been more foreign trade orders from enterprises. Since August, we have maintained a growth rate of about 50% every month! Now, the orders we receive have been scheduled for several months

Haiyao Crafts Co., Ltd. is located in Yuanqiao Town, Huangyan District, specializing in holiday gifts, home accessories, and more. Zheng Jing, the manager of the enterprise's foreign trade business, introduced: "Since July and August last year, our old customers have been placing orders for the end of the year. In recent months, the order scheduling has reached the first and second quarters of 2021

In interviews, many dealers stated that based on the overall sales performance of the whole year of 2020, the rebound in foreign trade at the end of the year has filled the gap of the decline in performance at the beginning of the year, and "in terms of the situation for the whole year, it is basically the same as previous years". For the rapid recovery of foreign trade business, dealers believe that overall it can be attributed to factors such as significant achievements in domestic epidemic prevention and control, and fast resumption of work and production.

The amount of loans provided by banks to foreign trade enterprises is a barometer reflecting the situation of foreign trade. It is reported that in recent months, the Taizhou office of Zhejiang Rural Credit Cooperatives has issued loans exceeding 3.6 billion yuan to foreign trade enterprises in the city. The main person in charge of the Taizhou office, Jin Shijiang, said, "Recently, the financing needs of many enterprises and distributors have been high. We have launched the 'Customs and Trade E-Loan' business, where distributors can use export declaration forms as a basis for loans. Many distributors are very enthusiastic about applying

Introduce a combination policy to help businesses secure orders

In the past six months, the biggest feeling of dealer Li Yifang is the change in the way business negotiations are conducted. In the past, Li Yifang often flew around in the sky to meet with clients face-to-face and finalize contracts and orders. Now, his way of negotiation has changed from offline to online, and he conducts business negotiation through the Internet. Online interviews are convenient, fast, and sincere

Li Yifang benefited from the "Internet plus+Foreign Trade" model recently explored by Taizhou. Taizhou City helps foreign trade enterprises expand their markets, grab orders, and reduce the impact of the epidemic on various aspects of distribution through methods such as "cloud display", "cloud negotiation", and "cloud docking". In 2020, Taizhou organized 47 online exhibitions and established the Taizhou "Cloud Exhibition" platform. Currently, more than 600 enterprises have settled in, creating a comprehensive exhibition platform that integrates regional brand promotion, global procurement, online negotiation and other functions.

In addition to making good use of new formats and models, Taizhou City has also launched a complete set of measures to stabilize foreign trade.

Taizhou will establish a specialized coordination mechanism, set up an export team, and coordinate various work related to exports. Recently, multiple measures have been introduced locally to promote the development of foreign trade, including smooth sales, optimized customs clearance, and credit insurance support. The governments of various counties (cities, districts) in Taizhou have jointly established a government unified insurance platform for small and micro enterprises. As long as the enterprise or distributor purchases insurance from a policy based export credit insurance company, they can enjoy a discount of more than 30% on the insurance premium rate during the 2020 policy period.

How has Taizhou implemented financial support? The reporter learned from the People's Bank of China Taizhou Central Branch that in 2020, Taizhou has issued loans totaling 48.348 billion yuan to 1069 small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises, from extending loans to small and medium-sized enterprises to implementing credit loan support programs. In terms of bank loan approval efficiency, fully leveraging the advantages of blockchain's "cross verification of documents", the previous 3-7 days have been accelerated to 1 day, greatly improving the financing convenience of foreign trade enterprises.

Supported by a series of policies aimed at stabilizing foreign trade, the export growth rate of small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises in Taizhou has turned positive for the first time in June 2020, marking the beginning of a rapid rebound in foreign trade throughout the year.

Listen to the demands of enterprises and solve problems on site

There are many foreign trade orders, and the working capital for purchasing water pumps from suppliers is not enough. "Chen Lubin, the person in charge of Taizhou Fanglianbao Import and Export Co., Ltd., has been engaged in water pump distribution in Daxi Town, Wenling City for more than 10 years. Recently, foreign trade has rebounded, with a sharp increase in export volume, which has put a lot of financial pressure on him.

A few days ago, when Chen Lubin was worried, Xie Jun, the customer manager of Agricultural Bank of China Wenling Branch, who was carrying out the "Service Enterprise, Service Mass, and Service Grassroots" activity (referred to as the "Three Services" activity), came to the company. After learning about the difficulties faced by the enterprise, Agricultural Bank of China's Wenling Branch provided a low interest loan of 1 million yuan to alleviate Chen Lubin's urgent need.

To carry out the "three services" of "point-to-point" and help the recovery of foreign trade, various departments in Taizhou are currently solidly carrying out service work for foreign trade enterprises and distributors.

In Jiaojiang District, district leaders have recently visited multiple enterprises, held discussions with business owners and distributors, and worked on-site to solve problems. A distributor said, "Recently, the export growth rate of the company's products has been fast, but the containers used for transportation are relatively tight." After the problem was raised, it was resolved through negotiation on the spot.

The current 'three services' work is very timely, like a pillow when we doze off! "During the interview, Zhu Xuanhui, the general manager of Zhejiang Kande Electromechanical Co., Ltd. located in Luqiao District, was recognized by the entrepreneurs present. Multiple business owners and distributors have stated that various issues related to distribution have been resolved through the "three services", which has facilitated the smooth export of goods and contributed to the recent recovery of foreign trade.

What other measures does the local government have to promote the continued recovery of foreign trade? The person in charge of the Taizhou Municipal Party Committee stated that in the next step, we will continue to strengthen the operation mechanism of the foreign trade export special team, deepen the "three services", make full use of various policy tools, and achieve effective policy implementation. At the same time, we will continue to deepen trade support, help enterprises avoid trade risks, and promote the stable and positive development of foreign trade. (Reporter Fang Min, Correspondent Pan Yongxiang)