General

With the orderly progress of resumption of work and production in key regions, the demand for the supply chain of foreign trade enterprises has become more prominent. How to solve problems such as shortage of materials after resumption of work and ensure that the resumption of work and production is not "stuck" in the middle of the road has become the focus of attention of all parties.

It is reported that the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and other relevant departments have recently deployed one after another to provide enterprises with precise services and ensure the stability of the foreign trade industry chain and supply chain. The local level is also actively promoting, coordinating and solving problems such as poor supply of raw materials and key components in the resumption of work and production of enterprises. The industry suggests that on the basis of stabilizing the "chain", it is necessary to further strengthen the "chain" to fundamentally improve the ability of my country's foreign trade industry to deal with risks and challenges.

Through the blocking point to help enterprises resume work and reach production

With the progress of resumption of work and production, upstream and downstream enterprises are in strong demand, and the raw material inventory of Cosma Automotive Systems (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. is basically exhausted, and a batch of imported steel coils is urgently needed to be replenished through domestic trade river transportation. After learning of the situation, Jiading Customs immediately started a linkage working mechanism with Wusong Customs where the port is located, opened a "green channel", and actively coordinated with the port area. The batch of vehicle steel coils was shipped to Chongqing in time for production.

Recently, many companies have worked overtime to fulfill the backlog of orders during the shutdown period. The difficulty in the arrival of raw materials and some key components has become a problem that plagues enterprises.

Relevant departments have made intensive deployments to increase the efforts to maintain and stabilize the foreign trade chain. The "Opinions on Promoting the Stability and Quality Improvement of Foreign Trade" issued by the General Office of the State Council on May 26 emphasized, "Determine the list of key foreign trade enterprises and related logistics enterprises and personnel, ensure production, logistics, and employment, and help those affected by the epidemic as soon as possible. The number of foreign trade enterprises will resume work and reach production to ensure the stability of the foreign trade supply chain.”

On the same day, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, Gao Feng, said that he will work with relevant departments to actively clear the blocking points to ensure the smooth domestic transportation of foreign trade goods; he will also gather forces to continue to ease the pressure on international logistics.

Specific measures include guiding local governments to establish a service guarantee system for key foreign trade enterprises, and helping foreign trade enterprises affected by the epidemic to resume work and reach production as soon as possible; fully ensure the smooth logistics and transportation of foreign trade goods and freight, and foreign trade enterprises can apply for vehicle passes for key material transportation according to regulations; In terms of shipping, railway, and aviation, we will continue to improve international logistics capacity, port customs clearance and operational efficiency, and ensure the transportation of important parts, equipment and products.

Previously, the General Administration of Customs issued ten measures to stabilize foreign trade, and made arrangements to ensure the smooth circulation of industrial chains and supply chains in key regions. In the past few days, customs in Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Haikou and many other places have released new measures to help export-oriented enterprises "stabilize the chain" and stabilize their confidence. Among them, the customs of the five places in the Yangtze River Delta have jointly issued a notice to jointly ensure the safety and smoothness of the regional industrial chain and supply chain.

Reduce costs and win more living space

The poor supply chain not only affects the production of enterprises, but also compresses the profit space of enterprises. A recent survey of foreign trade companies by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products shows that, affected by the rising prices of bulk raw materials and the rising prices of sea and land freight, many foreign trade companies report that their profitability continues to decline this year.

The survey also pointed out that compared with leading companies, especially multinational companies, small and medium-sized enterprises have prominent disadvantages in terms of prices and access to raw materials, key components, shipping, and power supply, with fewer orders and more shrinking profits. At the same time, the pressure on the capital chain of these enterprises has become more prominent.

"To stabilize the fundamentals of foreign trade, we must focus on two aspects, not only to stabilize production, but also to stabilize the market. Both are indispensable." Gao Lingyun, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that alleviating the problems caused by poor logistics The tight supply chain problem is essential for stabilizing production.

Gao Lingyun also emphasized that we should also pay attention to the problems faced by enterprises, such as labor costs, production costs, and transportation costs, which continue to rise, leading to a sharp drop in corporate profits, so as to strive for more living space for enterprises.

For these problems faced by foreign trade enterprises, relevant departments are taking targeted measures. Among them, the Ministry of Commerce stated that it will strengthen services and work with relevant departments to solve practical problems of enterprises in a timely manner. "Continue to guide all localities to take the initiative to provide services, sort out and promote the resolution of common problems affecting foreign trade enterprises' resumption of production and supply chain stability in a timely manner, deeply understand the urgency of foreign trade enterprises, and actively solve production, logistics, and labor difficulties for enterprises. Provide accurate services." Gao Feng introduced.

In addition, various departments and local governments are also actively applying free trade rules such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to ensure the safety and stability of the foreign trade industrial chain and supply chain, and to reduce costs and increase efficiency for enterprises.

Tan Wanchao, customs manager of Shenzhen Youxinda Supply Chain Service Co., Ltd., said that Guangzhou Customs and other departments continue to strengthen RCEP policy publicity, and actively guide enterprises to rationally deploy industrial chains and supply chains based on tariff concessions and differences in rules of origin to ensure that enterprises maximize the Enjoy policy dividends. "This is very helpful for our customers to further expand overseas markets."

Strong resilience to improve the overall competitiveness of foreign trade

On the basis of maintaining the "chain", how to strengthen the "chain" and improve the ability of my country's foreign trade enterprises to resist external uncertainties and challenges has also become the focus of the industry.

Gao Lingyun pointed out that the current world economic and trade environment is complex and the situation is changing. my country's foreign trade enterprises not only face the bottleneck of some key parts and components, but also effectively deal with the outflow of some orders to Southeast Asia and other places. "The fundamental of maintaining orders and expanding the market is to start with strengthening the overall resilience of the foreign trade industry chain. This is also the advantage of China's foreign trade."

Gao Shiwang, director of the Industry Development Department of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Mechanical and Electrical Products, said that from the recent survey of enterprises, leading enterprises in the vertically integrated industry chain can maintain a high operating rate and profitability by virtue of their advantages in capital, technology, scale, and brand. level, to ensure that it has the ability to continue to invest in research and development and to upgrade equipment, and to continuously increase its competitive advantage and market share, and form a virtuous circle. "This also reminds us of the importance of improving the competitiveness of upstream and downstream enterprises from the perspective of the overall supply chain of the industry chain."

Zhuo Hong, overseas head of the macro team of Industrial Securities, pointed out that facing the environment of supply chain adjustment and external turbulence and pressure, China's opportunities and challenges are more about maintaining the current core competitiveness, and how to optimize the position of the industrial chain and put the enterprise into production. and independent research and development capabilities are an important focus in the future upgrade of the industrial chain.