General

Anhui Xiaogang Panpan Food Co., Ltd., located in the Xiaogang Agricultural Products Deep Processing Industrial Park in Chuzhou, has machines roaring in its workshop, and boxes of rice cakes are "ready to be shipped". At the end of April, under the supervision of Chuzhou Customs under Hefei Customs, 8.7 tons of rice cakes produced by Xiaogang Panpan were successfully exported to East Asia. This is the first time Xiaogang Panpan has achieved export since its establishment.

Opening up international trade markets, promoting cross-border e-commerce construction, upgrading products and technologies... Since the beginning of this year, the foreign trade industry has been particularly busy. In the interview, many foreign trade enterprises stated that they should take the initiative this year and continuously explore new driving forces.

From a data perspective, since the beginning of this year, the growth rate of foreign trade in our province has shown a positive trend month by month. According to customs statistics, in April, the import and export of Anhui Province reached 69.74 billion yuan, an increase of 16.7%. Among them, exports reached 46.42 billion yuan, an increase of 39.5%.

Continued positive trend in international trade imports and exports

The "home" of overseas cute pets may come from Anhui. Recently, in the production workshop of Anhui Shengfei Wood Industry Technology Co., Ltd., workers are packaging pet houses such as hamster houses and chicken houses. After passing customs inspection, they are about to "go to sea".

In recent years, pet home products, mainly pet houses and cat climbing frames, have become increasingly popular in overseas markets. To meet the demand for pet products in overseas markets, we constantly adjust our designs and innovate product types. Exclusive 'villas' designed specifically for pet chickens and pet hamsters are the' hot cakes' of Amazon's pet products platform overseas. In the first quarter of this year, we exported 10 batches of wooden pet products with a value of 2.28 million yuan Wang Lunfei, the person in charge of the company, said.

Since the beginning of this year, the economic development of our province has shown a rebound and positive trend, and the economic operation has achieved a good start. In the field of foreign trade, in the first four months, the total import and export value of goods trade was 247.15 billion yuan, an increase of 5.8% compared to the same period last year. Among them, exports reached 164.73 billion yuan, an increase of 21.4%. The stable and positive trend of foreign trade continues further.

Behind the overall trend of foreign trade improving month by month, Anhui's advantageous products in international trade exports such as automobiles and spare parts continue to exert strength. In the first four months of this year, exports of automobiles, automotive parts, and solar cells amounted to 19.04 billion yuan, 9.89 billion yuan, and 9.31 billion yuan, respectively, an increase of 206%, 85%, and 42.9%.

Emerging markets are becoming new opportunities for China's foreign trade, and many foreign trade enterprises are actively targeting emerging markets to "increase their leverage". Statistics show that with the steady progress of high-level opening-up, the level of economic and trade cooperation between our province and countries along the "the Belt and Road" continues to improve. In the first four months of this year, the province's import and export to countries along the "the Belt and Road" reached 81.79 billion yuan, an increase of 30%, 24.2 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate.

At the beginning of this year, more than 10000 boxes of nitrile gloves produced by Anhui Yingke Medical Products Co., Ltd. were inspected and released by Huaibei Customs under Hefei Customs, and they boarded the Huaibei Qingdao Port "One Order" sea rail intermodal train from Qinglongshan, Huaibei City, to Saudi Arabia. Huaibei Customs continues to pay attention to the production and operation status of our company, dispatching specialists to provide comprehensive guidance and assistance on a one-on-one basis, continuously releasing policy dividends such as customs AEO advanced certification and RCEP, and actively coordinating and promoting the opening of sea rail intermodal export freight channels. Now, the company's products directly reach overseas through three normalized operation lines of the 'waterless port', "said Zhang Yan, the director of the logistics department of the company. At present, the company has developed 16 markets in countries along the "the Belt and Road".

According to the relevant person in charge of Hefei Customs, in recent years, based on the situation in Anhui Province, we have actively promoted the construction of China Europe freight trains and multimodal transportation; Research and issue the Detailed Measures of Hefei Customs to Support the Development of China Europe Trains, take the initiative to dock with Alashankou, Khorgos, Manzhouli and Erlianhot Customs, open up the three major channels from east to west, and build a national China Europe train assembly center with Hefei as the hub, serving Anhui and radiating the Yangtze River Delta.

Accelerated development of new formats and models

At the end of April, the cross-border e-commerce supervision workplace in the Hefei area of Anhui Pilot Free Trade Zone was bustling with activity. After each cross-border e-commerce package is inspected and released by the Luzhou Customs officers under the jurisdiction of Hefei Customs, it will be carried out by flight and delivered to foreign buyers.

Cross border e-commerce has significantly increased its usage among foreign user groups due to its advantages such as online transactions, non-contact delivery, and short transaction chains. Since the beginning of this year, the cross-border e-commerce business in Shushan has seen vigorous development, with an average daily order volume of 20000. "said Wang Weidong, Deputy General Manager of Hefei Shushan High tech Park Development Co., Ltd.

In recent years, there has been significant growth in cross-border e-commerce and market procurement trade in our province, effectively stabilizing the basic foreign trade situation. Statistical data shows that in the first four months of this year, Anhui Province exported 2.55 billion yuan through market procurement trade, a year-on-year increase of 237.7%.

As the first pilot market for market procurement trade in Anhui Province, Bengbu Zhongheng Trading City has officially launched market procurement trade business since January 25, 2021, effectively solving trade problems such as small orders, miscellaneous goods, multiple varieties, and no value-added tax invoices for merchants, achieving international trade at home, promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional commodity markets, and driving more small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in foreign trade, Added new engines to enhance the level of opening up to the outside world.

Market procurement trade has provided us with a great outlet for small order businesses. Customs clearance procedures are simple, customs clearance conditions are convenient, export costs are lower, and foreign exchange collection is flexible. In the first quarter, we declared 158 customs declarations for export through market procurement trade, with a value of 140 million yuan. "said Qiao Jun, the person in charge of Bengbu Sihai Import and Export Co., Ltd.

We will continue to promote the reform of the integration of market procurement, trade and customs clearance within the province, reduce the roundabout transportation time of goods from the warehouse to the procurement customs for customs transfer procedures, and then to the port, and reduce logistics costs for small and micro enterprises. We will flexibly increase inspection schedules according to enterprise needs, and release emergency orders immediately. We will support the establishment of offline display centers for market procurement, cooperate with the construction of characteristic industry pavilions in various regions of Anhui Province, and support Enterprises in different industries such as textiles, clothing, and daily necessities choose customs clearance modes according to their own needs to improve customs clearance efficiency The relevant person in charge of Hefei Customs introduced that, at the same time, we should give full play to the overlapping advantages of the national open platform, support the provincial cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot area and Bengbu Zhongheng Trade City to strengthen the linkage, guide the market procurement operators to use the cross-border e-commerce platform online to obtain orders, and use the market procurement trade method offline to export goods, expand the export channels of new formats, and form new growth points of foreign trade.

In supporting the vigorous development of cross-border e-commerce, our province has carried out innovation in the customs supervision system of free trade pilot zones, established a cross-border e-commerce online shopping bonded retail import "return goods blockchain auxiliary management" platform, and achieved the traceability and certificate storage function of return goods through blockchain and Internet of Things technology, reducing secondary sales and storage risks while enhancing the return experience; According to the principle of "classified supervision and highlighting key points" for different business entities, optimize the inspection process and increase the proportion of non-invasive inspections; Actively strengthen communication and coordination with the railway department, continue to support the operation of the "China Europe Express+Cross border E-commerce" special train, and promote the rapid export of cross-border e-commerce goods by taking the China Europe Express.

Actively addressing challenges such as insufficient orders

According to the latest released data, the proportion of private enterprises in foreign trade has increased, and their position as the main force in foreign trade development has further highlighted.

In the first four months, the international trade import and export of private enterprises in our province reached 124.05 billion yuan, an increase of 2.4%, accounting for 50.2%.

Private enterprises rely on technological and product innovation to continuously improve their international competitiveness. Despite the overall improvement, the shortage of orders caused by weak external demand remains a challenge faced by many private enterprises.

Recently, during interviews with reporters, many foreign trade enterprise leaders stated that the order situation has improved, but still mainly short orders. Some business owners have stated that the current export profit margin is basically the same as the level in 2022.

From the perspective of external environment, the uncertainty of external demand remains the biggest constraint. The International Monetary Fund lowered the global economic growth rate from 2.9% to 2.8% in April. From the perspective of business entities, foreign trade enterprises also face some constraints and difficulties, such as rising trade risks and increasing business pressure.

How to find new "ways out" under the pressure of foreign trade?

At present, many enterprises are actively exploring new markets and developing new formats, taking a series of measures to stabilize orders and expand the market. At the recently concluded 133rd China International Trade Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), Priest (Chuzhou) Chuangpin Technology Co., Ltd. showcased a smart coffee table refrigerator that integrates automatic heating or cooling, charging, Bluetooth speakers, and other functions, which was very eye-catching. On the first day of the exhibition, the company received an intention order of over 800000 US dollars and confirmed the arrangement for customers to visit the factory for on-site inspection.

Foreign trade is an important component of the national economy and an important engine for driving economic growth. In response to stabilizing foreign trade, the General Office of the State Council recently issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Stable Scale and Optimal Structure of Foreign Trade", proposing 18 specific measures and implementing a "combination punch" of stabilizing foreign trade policies.

Looking at Anhui again, in 2023, our province will clearly increase the recruitment of export-oriented large projects and foreign trade leading enterprise platforms, improve the operation of foreign trade comprehensive service platforms, release the top 10 foreign trade enterprises list in Anhui Province, add over 1000 import and export performance enterprises, and strive to reach 13000; Newly cultivate and recognize more than 50 "Anhui export brands"; Strengthen the construction of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, incubate and cultivate over 1000 cross-border e-commerce enterprises, and strive to increase cross-border e-commerce transaction volume by more than 30%; Support the creation of national cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, import trade promotion innovation demonstration zones, service trade innovation development demonstration zones, and digital trade demonstration zones.

Industry insiders point out that in response to difficulties and challenges, foreign trade entities should not only "huddle together to warm up", but also further improve their internal skills. Enterprises should continuously enhance their ability to resist risks by improving product quality, strengthening technological innovation, and expanding trade channels, providing important impetus for the high-quality development of foreign trade, and making more contributions to consolidating the recovery of the national economy towards a positive trend.