The scale of foreign trade has stood at 30 billion yuan for four consecutive years, with an average annual growth rate of 7%; it has twice won the title of “Sichuan Province Open Development Demonstration City”; it has ranked among the top 100 foreign trade cities in China, ranking 58th… At an economic and trade exchange meeting, this set of hard-core data released by Yibin attracted a lot of attention.
High-quality development of foreign trade is related to the improvement of urban development level and competitiveness. How does Yibin achieve it?
Behind the dazzling numbers is a “combination punch” that integrates industries, channels, services, etc.
Yibin’s confidence in developing foreign trade comes first from industry.
Since the “14th Five-Year Plan”, Yibin has shouldered the mission of “accelerating the construction of Sichuan’s southward opening hub” entrusted by the Provincial Party Committee, anchored the new “one blue and one green” industrial track, and built a “4 + 4 + N” modern industrial system using circle thinking.
The four major industrial clusters of power batteries, crystalline silicon photovoltaics, high-quality liquor, and digital economy are accelerating, and the form of exports has also quietly changed – from selling a single product to “going global with the industrial chain.”
For example, for every 7 power batteries produced in the country, one comes from Yibin; for every 10 produced in the world, 1 is “made in Yibin”. The export of supporting upstream materials such as battery radiators, copper and aluminum, and lithium hydroxide has also soared.
At the same time, Yibin insists on stabilizing the chain owner enterprises on the one hand, and incubating new faces on the other.
The multi-pronged approach of “attracting investment and attracting trade” and “foreign trade incubation”, “leading by state-owned enterprises and following up by private enterprises” and “leading by leading companies and linking small and medium-sized enterprises” have enabled more and more enterprises to change from “not being able to do business” to “dare to do business, be able to do business, and be stable in business”.
At present, Yibin’s foreign trade performance enterprises have reached 214, an increase of 37% compared with the beginning of the “14th Five-Year Plan”.
Technological innovation has added fuel to the fire for going overseas.
The city has built 13 Tianfu Science and Technology Cloud Service Centers at the city and county levels and 25 academician (expert) workstations. More than 40 key technology research and achievement transformations have been implemented one after another. A number of “stuck neck” problems have been overcome one by one, making “Made in Yibin” more core competitive in the international market.
Data shows that from January to April this year, Yibin’s “three new items” exports bucked the trend and grew by nearly 83%, contributing more than 45% to the province’s growth.
In 2025, Yibin’s exports of lithium-ion batteries, yarn, liquor, and projectors will rank first in the province.
The products must be excellent and the channels must be smooth.
Yibin’s solution is: borrow the strength of overseas Chinese to connect with the world.
Yibin has joined forces with the Sichuan-Chongqing Chamber of Commerce in nine countries including Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia to form the “Overseas Chinese Helping Yipin Go Overseas” alliance, hiring a number of overseas consultants as “guides” to provide a package of customized services from market access, legal compliance to risk warning.
Sanjiang Huihai Products Company has thus obtained the United Nations Global Market Supplier Certification, and Wuliangye, Yibin Burning Noodles and other specialty products have also taken advantage of this to open the door to overseas markets.
Not only that, Yibin also adheres to the principle of “using overseas Chinese as a bridge and connecting overseas Chinese through business”, establishing friendly cooperative relations with 16 overseas friendship organizations such as the South African Chinese Business Association, linking up with local business associations, and weaving the network of contacts into a network of channels.
Overseas warehouses and distribution channels are accurately matched, and a wide-coverage and quick-response “Yipin goes overseas” channel system is accelerated.
During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, Yibin has organized companies to participate in more than 300 foreign-related exhibitions, with more than 1,000 visits, and invited more than 100 foreign business associations and companies to Yibin for negotiations.
Trading partners have expanded to 175 countries and regions, and the number of foreign trade companies has reached 214, an increase of 37% from the beginning of the “14th Five-Year Plan”.
How fast customs clearance is directly related to whether a company dares to break through.
Yibin Customs took the lead in piloting “smart supervision” in the country, and the time for export inspection and release of lithium batteries was reduced from 48 hours to less than 30 minutes.
Yibin Comprehensive Bonded Zone has continued to release policy dividends such as “tax refund upon entry” and “bonded maintenance”, and the “immediate entry” model for first-line goods entering the zone has been replicated and promoted across the country.
Logistics channels are also speeding up.
Yibin has opened China-Europe international trains, TIR cross-border road transport and the “Yibin-Qinzhou” southbound rail-sea intermodal transport channel. It has taken the lead in realizing power lithium battery railway transportation in the country and opened the “Yibin-Rotterdam” solar silicon wafer river-sea intermodal transport line.
The annual cargo and mail throughput of Wuliangye Airport has ranked first among regional airports in the province for three consecutive years. Yibin has also become the first city in the province to have both water transport and railway customs supervision sites.
Financial support is also increasing.
Yibin has established a government-bank-insurance tripartite service mechanism with the Sichuan Branch of the Export-Import Bank of China and the Sichuan Branch of Sinosure, and has provided a total of 1.92 billion yuan in loans to enterprises.
In 2025 alone, more than US$100 million in financial support will be provided to 61 small and micro export enterprises, raising the coverage rate to 63%.
More and more “Made in Yibin” products are moving towards the world more confidently along the bridge built by Yibin Overseas Chinese Union.
