Container loading and unloading in Nantong Port Tonghai Port Area is busy and orderly. Photo by Zhai Huiyong

The galloping China-Europe trains, busy port terminals, cross-border e-commerce that reaches the world, and overseas warehouses for goods in and out...During the Spring Festival holiday, Jiangsu's trade connection with the world remains the same as always, and countless foreign trade people are still busy.

At present, our province is implementing a tough action to innovate and develop foreign trade, and new formats such as cross-border e-commerce will add new momentum to "stabilizing foreign trade." Data shows that cross-border e-commerce exports in our province grew by 12.3% last year. In the "transformation period" of global supply chain restructuring, Jiangsu's foreign trade urgently needs to seek "new growth" from "new momentum."

When the wind rises, the transformation faction explores the "new direction"

"The cross-border e-commerce team has been online all the time, processing orders and recording user feedback. The design and R&D departments transform the new needs of overseas consumers into new products as quickly as possible." Yang Ling, general manager of Zhongxing Motorcycle, was busy calculating the goals for the new year during the Spring Festival holiday. This year, he is confident that cross-border e-commerce business will account for 15% of the company's foreign trade business. In addition to stabilizing the US e-commerce market, it will also actively expand the European market.

Yang Ling's choice is the current development direction of many traditional foreign trade enterprises in our province. Even if the proportion of cross-border business is not too large, for them, this is a "transformation road" that must be taken: only by getting close to the consumer end can we understand the real "demand point" and truly promote the export of high-quality production capacity, so as to grasp the future "direction" of foreign trade.

Since last year, more and more traditional foreign trade companies have keenly felt the changes in the market: global trade uncertainty has intensified, and only by understanding market demand can we grasp some certainty.

"Across dealers, information is often lagging behind. Only by getting close to the market can we adjust product design and performance in time to seize the opportunity." Hou Dafu, brand manager of Jinyishun Foreign Trade Platform of Jinpeng Group, said that with the help of cross-border e-commerce, enterprises will promote electric tricycles to overseas customers through live broadcasts, and they will receive many orders without opening stores overseas. Last year, the company's export volume increased by more than 30%, and its products were sold to more than 80 countries and regions around the world. The foreign trade team also grew from 5 people to more than 60 people. The company is actively planning its first overseas flagship store, building overseas turnover warehouses, and setting up overseas processing plants to further expand its export business.

The "wind" of cross-border e-commerce has risen, but it still takes a lot of courage to go from "watching the wind direction" to "chasing the wind". Regarding entering the cross-border e-commerce, "foreign trade veteran" Yang Ling is very cautious. "Doing cross-border e-commerce is not as simple as registering an account, finding a platform, and posting some product links." The costs of forming a professional team, overseas brand promotion, and returns and exchanges are calculated to be a considerable expense. He told reporters that since 2022, the company has invested 5 million yuan to form an "e-commerce line" and officially launched the "green and convenient bicycle" that goes directly to the US market on the Amazon platform. It was not until March last year that the cross-border e-commerce sector received orders one after another. "We have formed a special design team to adjust products in a timely manner according to the feedback from American consumers. This year, the value of our cross-border orders in the US market is expected to exceed 10 million yuan."

The transformation of "foreign trade veterans" is a microcosm of Jiangsu's foreign trade breakthrough. Jiangsu has a strong industrial foundation and mature manufacturing capabilities, but at present, how to improve the supply of high-quality production capacity and open up overseas markets more steadily with "marketable" products is a key issue that Jiangsu needs to solve urgently.

Vigorously develop the "cross-border e-commerce + industrial belt" model, which has become a "solution"--

In order to promote Jiangsu enterprises to go overseas with the help of cross-border e-commerce and create a world-renowned independent international brand, Amazon Global Store has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Provincial Department of Commerce. The two sides have achieved results in supporting local enterprises in Jiangsu to develop digital trade, improve the export cross-border e-commerce industry service cluster, and strengthen cross-border e-commerce talent training. More than 1,000 high-quality enterprises in Jiangsu Province have successfully launched on Amazon. On Amazon's global sites, with rich foreign trade experience and high-quality products, Jiangsu sellers have performed outstandingly in categories such as home furnishings, clothing and accessories, toys and pets, fitness and sports, and industrial supplies, and have shown great development potential in creating their own international brands.

On one hand, high-quality industrial belts with strong strength and distinctive characteristics are striving for breakthroughs, while on the other hand, rapidly developing cross-border platforms are looking forward to high-quality supply chains. Under the background of the country's strong support for new foreign trade formats, cross-border e-commerce has become a new opportunity for the transformation of industrial belts.

For small and medium-sized enterprises, there are still many "barriers" to go abroad and face overseas consumer markets on their own, including language barriers, marketing methods, traffic competition, and logistics investment. Talents and funds are needed at every level. Taking a boat and going out with the "industrial belt" have strengthened the confidence of many companies that are waiting and watching. "Cross-border e-commerce is not just a business, but also an option for the future." Ni Xiaofeng, general manager of Jiangsu Guowei, has been busy setting up the English version of the company's official website recently. "Online development" of overseas markets is the focus of his work this year.

Expanding new export formats such as cross-border e-commerce has also become a key measure for the innovative development of Jiangsu's foreign trade this year. Our province will implement the "Three-Year Action Plan for High-Quality Development of Cross-border E-commerce", continue to promote the development of "cross-border e-commerce + industrial belts", focus on building 15 cross-border e-commerce characteristic industrial belts throughout the year, cultivate more than 110 provincial cross-border e-commerce industrial parks and more than 30 well-known cross-border e-commerce brands, and strengthen the supply and demand docking of public overseas warehouses.

Under pressure, those seeking change smell "new business opportunities"

Under the pressure of foreign trade, no one can be immune to it. Only by opening up new space and finding new growth points can there be a way out.

Live broadcast for more than 16 hours a day, with more than one million fans, and the total transaction volume of goods exceeded 1 million yuan in 6 days... With a high-intensity rhythm, trendy scene layout, and professional product introduction, it is hard to imagine that this is a "live broadcast room" operated by a state-owned enterprise. In February last year, Jiangsu Soho established a new retail enterprise, Jiangsu Soho Digital Technology Co., Ltd., focusing on promoting the development of new retail and new economy. Why do traditional state-owned enterprises transform into live broadcasting? Liu Zhen, chairman of SOHO Digital Technology, said that the company had secured the exclusive distribution rights for MLB apparel on Douyin in South Korea in the early days of its establishment. Through live broadcast distribution and agency sales, the company can quickly accumulate experience in operating international brands, which will also lay the foundation for SOHO to develop its own brands in the future.

The company is also actively exploring transformation, trying to open up a "new direction" with a "new format". In the past year, SOHO has transformed its main foreign trade business from labor-intensive products to technology-intensive products. After intensively investigating more than 40 production companies, industrial design companies, and industry associations, the company quickly clarified its direction and independently developed and designed a "fist product" with great transformation significance - a consumer-grade energy storage box. The product became a hit at the German Expo last year, and successfully signed two orders worth US$700,000. After the start of work after the New Year, it has been shipped to the European market. "This highly experimental attempt proves that as long as the "big guys" of state-owned enterprises are willing to change, they can also quickly and flexibly find new opportunities and new momentum in this "adjustment war." Liu Zhen said that this is the first self-branded new energy product of SOHO Holdings Group, with a gross profit margin of more than 40%, and a complete intellectual property system has been formed. This year, the company will focus on exploring the new business model of "industrial and commercial energy storage + data center" and layout new development tracks.

Anchored in the new foreign trade format, traditional foreign trade companies feel the direction of the wind and dare to change and fight to "fight for excellence." At the same time, service trade companies also keenly smell business opportunities and actively join the game.

Foreign trade independent stations are a powerful tool for companies to expand international markets. Unlike traditional cross-border e-commerce platforms, cross-border independent stations do not need to rely on platforms or intermediaries, but independently master the operation, marketing, logistics, after-sales and other aspects of the website. Jiangsu Weichi Digital Technology Co., Ltd. is a company that focuses on providing digital services for going overseas. "By building a brand independent station, companies can fully control brand display and communication, and have more autonomy and bargaining power. Building an independent station is actually building a brand, helping companies tell good brand stories through rich content." Hao Dajie, head of the company's marketing department, introduced that the company also provides overseas digital media marketing operations, brand value-added, data analysis and other services to increase brand exposure and display opportunities for companies, and introduce traffic on social media to independent stations, converting them into the company's own private domain traffic and orders.

In the import and export process, customs clearance barriers have become one of the biggest problems for foreign trade companies. "For example, there are many types of tariffs, which are difficult to classify. Take the automotive industry as an example. Its parts suppliers belong to different companies, and the ledger management is very complicated, and the audit risk to be borne is very high. If the system is used for unified management, the efficiency will be much higher." Liu Yanhui, marketing director of Langxin Yinuo (Suzhou) Information Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that through the Jinguanzhixing customs and trade compliance system developed by the company, an average of 8 hours can be saved in customs clearance time, reducing more than 95% of trade risks.

Together for the future, good competition and cooperation to win the "big market"

The uncertainty of the international market is still intensifying. It is not only enterprises that cannot be immune to it. All provinces and regions need to jump out of the "regional" thinking, work together in a larger pattern, and enhance the resilience of the entire industrial chain and supply chain.

"In the context of the global industrial chain reconstruction, Made in China must make good use of the "adjustment period" to make up for shortcomings, consolidate the bottom plate, and forge new plates. This requires all regions to join hands and jointly build new advantages in the competition of the industrial chain." Han Jian, professor of the School of Business of Nanjing University and dean of the Jiangsu Free Trade Research Institute, said that from the perspective of Jiangsu's industrial structure, many enterprises are located in the upstream, and most of them produce "intermediate products" such as supporting facilities and parts. These "contributions" cannot be reflected in the "values" of foreign trade imports and exports. But for China's foreign trade, Jiangsu is still the "key quantity" to maintain overall resilience, and its gold content "shines" in a wider range of industrial collaborations. He believes that as the starting point and connection point of China's external industrial cycle, Jiangsu should make efforts from the perspective of "double synergy" of China's trade added value and international trade added value, shift from "quantity expansion" to "qualitative improvement", and make Jiangsu's contribution to serving the construction of a new development pattern.

Servo motors are the flagship products of Jiangsu Zhima Technology Co., Ltd., a national-level "little giant" enterprise specializing in specialties, and are mainly sold to major foreign trade provinces such as Guangdong and Zhejiang. "Servo motors are general products. Equipment in various fields such as industrial robots, textile equipment, and automated production lines, especially equipment with high requirements for process accuracy, processing efficiency, and work reliability, all require high-end servo motors. Since its establishment in 2016, the company has continued to make efforts on the R&D side, and at least 5% of its revenue has been invested in R&D each year. We provide equipment for many industrial enterprises in Zhejiang, such as plastic machinery, textile machinery and other industries. Last year, our market sales in Zhejiang exceeded 5 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10%. "Zhang Changsheng, general manager of the company, said that this year, the company has launched a new high-power permanent magnet synchronous servo motor, and the order amount in the first quarter reached 70 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12%.

Accelerating the construction of a new development pattern, inter-regional foreign trade cooperation has become an important factor affecting the resilience of China's foreign trade. At present, optimizing trade facilitation is an important task for the integration of the Yangtze River Delta regional market. The digital transformation of trade and the development of a new generation of information technology provide space and possibilities for a higher level of trade facilitation.

Last September, the business authorities of the three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta jointly signed the "Agreement on Deepening the Cooperation in Business Development of the Yangtze River Delta Regional Market Integration". At present, the construction of customs clearance integration in the Yangtze River Delta has made certain progress, such as the launch of the Yangtze River Delta International Trade "Single Window" area. This area not only has the functions of customs declaration and declaration of goods, but also the logistics query function of goods. Through this "single window", you can query the transportation status of goods and the arrival time and other information, forming a "customs clearance + logistics" collaborative service. In addition, the coordinated handling of online business in the Yangtze River Delta region has been realized, and a series of project-based functions have been launched, including cross-regional data dashboards, cross-customs refueling of bonded fuel, and coastal empty container transportation, which will further reduce the costs of foreign trade enterprises. (Reporter Wang Mengran, Lin Shan, Chen Xianzhong, Chongshan)

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