In accordance with the work arrangements of the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal People’s Government to promote high-level opening up to the outside world, the Weifang Municipal Bureau of Commerce regards “promoting Weifang enterprises and Weifang products to go overseas on a larger scale” as the top priority of foreign trade work. Focusing on the five main lines of stabilizing scale, optimizing structure, strengthening entities, smooth channels, and increasing momentum, the Weifang Municipal Bureau of Commerce continues to expand the total foreign trade volume, strengthen the brand of Weifang enterprises, and consolidate the fundamentals of the city’s export-oriented economy.
The scale of import and export has increased steadily, and the advantage of Weipin has been strong.
In the first five months, the city’s total import and export value has grown steadily, and the scale has reached a new high.
Completed 163.51 billion yuan, ranking third in the province in total, accounting for 11.1% of the province’s total import and export volume, 0.3 percentage points higher than the same period last year; a year-on-year increase of 6.5%, 3.2 percentage points higher than the province’s total.
Weifang’s five major advantageous industries, namely agricultural machinery and equipment, high-end chemicals, auto parts, textiles and clothing, and agricultural products, continue to lead in exports. The export growth of emerging categories such as new energy equipment, energy storage equipment, and environmental protection equipment is outstanding. The international recognition of “Made in Weifang” continues to increase.
Foreign trade business entities continue to grow, and the overseas echelon continues to improve.
Relying on the “Wei Qi Wei Products Going Overseas” campaign, small, medium and micro production enterprises, cross-border e-commerce enterprises, and trade and circulation enterprises have actively transformed and expanded overseas markets. Leading foreign trade enterprises such as Weichai, Haomai, Lovol, Molong, and Vosges have continued to deeply explore the global market, forming a complete overseas echelon of “leading enterprises supporting the market, small, medium and micro enterprises making up for the increase, and new format enterprises opening up the market.” The number of enterprises with foreign trade performance has exceeded 7,600.
The international market layout continues to be optimized, and Weipin’s circle of friends is further expanded.
Focusing on the strategy of developing diversified international markets, we will delve deeply into the “One Belt, One Road” and RCEP member countries, and attack emerging markets such as ASEAN, Central Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa; we will consolidate the stock of traditional European and American markets and rely on overseas exhibitions, overseas exhibition centers, and public overseas warehouses to promote Weiqi and Weifang products, with trading partners in 224 countries and regions.
New business formats and new models of foreign trade are accelerating and growing, becoming a new addition for Weifang enterprises to go overseas.
Cross-border e-commerce, bonded logistics, overseas warehouses, and overseas marketing networks are working together. Agricultural machinery, home furnishing, food, and building materials industries are taking cross-border live broadcasts overseas, and the layout of independent stations is accelerating. Digital trade and green trade have opened up new growth space for the expansion of the city’s foreign trade scale.
It is a core task and long-term plan for the city’s open economic development to deepen the export of Weifang enterprises and products overseas and promote larger-scale growth of foreign trade.
The Municipal Commerce Bureau has always adhered to the “four-wheel drive” of policy empowerment, entity cultivation, market expansion, and business format innovation, escorting Weicheng enterprises to sail overseas and build the Weipin overseas brand.
Policy empowerment has been upgraded, and companies have more confidence to go overseas.
In response to the high cost of overseas exhibitions reported by enterprises and the difficulty in identifying national market risks, the number of overseas exhibitions supported by Weifang’s “Thousands of Enterprises and Hundreds of Exhibitions” policy this year has been expanded from 170 to 200, and the scope of subsidies has been further expanded. Currently, 1,513 companies have been organized to participate in 89 international exhibitions.
Take the initiative to go out, and organize 7 economic and trade activities in Africa, America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macao in the form of a government “small team” leading a “big team” of enterprises, with nearly 60 companies participating; carry out “big businessmen enter the industrial belt” and international precision procurement docking activities, use domestic and foreign industry and business associations, overseas agencies and other resources to invite international buyers to Weifang for on-site inspections and direct procurement from the source.
Based on the industrial advantages of hardware and building materials, textiles and clothing, agricultural machinery, etc., we organize international precision procurement docking by industry.
Taking advantage of the gathering of professional buyers at the Canton Fair, 2 special supply and purchase matching activities were held in Guangzhou to build a direct platform for Weifang enterprises to connect with international buyers.
The innovative “one country, one policy” special action for key market development focuses on the three key overseas markets of Chile in South America, Hungary in Europe, and Tanzania in Africa. The first batch provides enterprises with free services such as international logistics and transportation, overseas warehousing display, and product marketing and promotion, effectively reducing the initial costs and trial and error risks of enterprises “going global.”
The main body is cultivated and expanded, and the overseas team has “stronger muscles and bones”.
Continue to deepen the “big training for thousands of people and thousands of enterprises” and implement “one enterprise, one policy” targeted assistance.
Publish national market demand and trade risk guides, and focus on international trade rules, cross-border e-commerce operations, digital marketing skills, etc., and carry out policy publicity and compliance training in counties, cities, and industrial parks to stabilize the expectations of enterprises for overseas operations.
So far, 37 online and offline training activities have been organized, covering 4,839 people.
Innovatively build an “online + offline” foreign-related comprehensive service system.
We compiled and printed the “Service Manual for Weifang Enterprises Going Overseas” and the “Service Manual for the National Shandong- and Weifang-related Business Associations”, set up a website column for “Weifang Enterprises and Weifang Products Going Overseas”, opened 19 foreign trade hotlines, and established a closed-loop complaint processing mechanism, which has solved more than 4,600 corporate complaints.
The “Excellent Foreign Trade Product Database” was simultaneously expanded, with a focus on attracting high-tech enterprises such as specialized, new and “hidden champions” into the database, with 391 companies selected.
Innovating the “full-process guidance for the first export order”, formulating personalized assistance plans to promote domestic trade enterprises to switch to foreign trade, the city’s number of enterprises with import and export performance increased by 698 compared with last year, of which private enterprises accounted for 86.3%, becoming the main force going overseas.
The integration of business formats is accelerating, and the competitive advantage is “brighter”.
Taking “optimizing structure and increasing added value” as the core direction of going overseas, we will accelerate the transformation of traditional foreign trade into new trade methods.
We continue to deepen the “cross-border e-commerce + industrial belt” model, and have currently carried out 15 activities such as industrial belt product selection, resource matching, and talent training, covering more than 480 companies, helping local industries such as agricultural machinery, musical instruments, auto parts, and light industrial products to expand their markets through online channels.
Upgrade the online and offline cross-border comprehensive service platform. Online, the Xinghai Cross-border (Weifang) comprehensive service platform integrates policy, market, logistics and other resources, with more than 240 companies settled and more than 1,800 high-quality products on display. Offline, the exhibition and sales center focuses on presenting products from ten distinctive industrial belts, creating a comprehensive service position that integrates display, product selection, and negotiation.
Under the guidance of all-round cultivation, a number of local cross-border e-commerce companies such as Xiaobei Yuncang and Zhongyu Steel Structure won provincial honors and were widely reported.
The city’s cross-border e-commerce scale and growth rate are firmly among the top in the province.
The scale and quality of service trade continue to improve. In the first quarter, the city’s service trade reached US$285 million.
Knowledge-intensive service trade such as other commercial services, intellectual property royalties, and insurance services developed rapidly, with a year-on-year increase of 19.3%, accounting for 48.4% of the city’s total service trade, an increase of 8.5 percentage points year-on-year.
The market layout will be further deepened, and the diversified space will have a “broader territory”.
Relying on a series of actions such as “Wei Enterprises and Wei Products Going Global”, “Thousands of Enterprises and Hundreds of Exhibitions”, and international precision procurement docking, we will guide advantageous industries such as agricultural machinery, equipment, textiles, chemicals, and specialty agricultural products to go overseas as a group, continue to optimize the global market layout, continuously expand external development space, coordinate and stabilize traditional markets, deeply cultivate incremental markets, tap potential markets, and promote the continuous expansion of the international economic and trade landscape.
Improve the supporting layout of overseas warehouses, overseas exhibition centers, and cross-border marketing outlets, promote the development model of “cross-border e-commerce + industrial belts + overseas warehouses”, rely on China-Europe trains and international cross-border logistics channels to open up overseas links, and continuously enhance the international competitiveness of Wei enterprises and the global reputation of Wei products.
From January to May, the city’s exports to emerging markets such as ASEAN (32.7%), Africa (17.8%), and Latin America (5.9%) grew rapidly, exports to RCEP member countries increased by 20.2%, and exports to countries co-building the “Belt and Road” increased by 15%.
After years of development, Weifang’s foreign trade has a stable foundation, strong resilience and vitality. Facing the complex and ever-changing external environment, in the next step, the Weifang Municipal Commerce Bureau will continue to implement a good policy mix, improve the service column of “Weifang Enterprises and Products Going Overseas”, and cooperate with the majority of Weifang businesses.
Enterprises in the city work together to tackle difficulties, seize the RCEP, jointly build the “Belt and Road”, and the global digital trade development window period, continue to expand the city’s total import and export volume, polish the “Made in Weifang” overseas brand, and continuously enhance the city’s export-oriented economy’s comprehensive competitiveness.
