Zhejiang launches “Dragon Action” for leading foreign trade enterprises to help its products reach the world.

On the global trade stage, Zhejiang is actively promoting its goods to the world with a brand-new attitude. Recently, the Office of the Leading Group for Building a High-Level Open and Strong Province in Zhejiang Province issued the “Action Plan for the ‘Jiaolong Action’ of Leading Foreign Trade Enterprises in Zhejiang Province (2025-2028)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Action Plan”). This move is like a bombshell, creating ripples in Zhejiang’s foreign trade sector. Foreign trade has always been an important engine of Zhejiang’s economic growth. According to customs statistics, from January to July this year, Zhejiang’s foreign trade imports and exports reached 3.19 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%. Among them, exports reached 2.42 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%, accounting for 15.8% of the national share. Such impressive results demonstrate the strong strength of Zhejiang’s foreign trade. However, since the beginning of this year, the international trade situation has been complex and volatile. Zhejiang has keenly realized the need to cultivate a group of leading foreign trade enterprises with core competitiveness, international influence, and strategic support capabilities to meet future challenges. The Action Plan clearly states that by 2028, it aims to cultivate more than 30 leading enterprises, more than 300 backbone leading enterprises, and more than 3,000 potential leading enterprises. Focusing on Zhejiang’s foreign trade industrial belt, it differentiates between different types such as production and distribution, and cultivates leading foreign trade enterprises in a tiered and categorized manner. This not only provides broader development space for large enterprises but also focuses on potential leading enterprises, stimulating the growth potential of small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises, promoting their upgrading and expansion, and forming a tiered cultivation pool for Zhejiang’s foreign trade entities. To achieve this goal, the Action Plan outlines actions in six aspects and proposes 21 specific tasks. Among them, market expansion is a crucial link. The “Thousands of Groups and Tens of Thousands of Enterprises” initiative to expand markets and secure orders is being coordinated and promoted. Enterprises are supported in cultivating traditional markets such as Europe, the United States, and Japan, while actively expanding into markets in ASEAN, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa—countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. Furthermore, efforts are being accelerated to develop cross-border e-commerce, promoting the integrated development of “live streaming + platform economy + cross-border e-commerce,” expanding new models of cross-border e-commerce, and supporting enterprises in building independent cross-border e-commerce websites, thus opening up broader international markets for Zhejiang products. The cluster development initiative is also crucial. The construction of five headquarters clusters for leading foreign trade enterprises is being explored, along with the creation of public service platforms for these clusters. Efforts are being intensified to attract investment and promote trade in these clusters, strengthening resource integration among leading foreign trade enterprises, and leveraging the radiating effect of foreign trade industrial belts to drive the development of surrounding areas. Leveraging the leading role of key enterprises and utilizing the resource aggregation advantages of industrial clusters, the plan empowers the development of small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises, fostering a healthy industrial ecosystem. The Action Plan also outlines safeguard measures in three aspects: improving communication mechanisms, strengthening policy support, and enhancing implementation. It encourages cities and counties (districts) in Zhejiang to develop tailored policies based on their specific circumstances to further cultivate new advantages and enhance new drivers of foreign trade development. It is foreseeable that, driven by the “Jiaolong Action,” Zhejiang’s foreign trade enterprises will emerge like dragons soaring into the sea, making significant strides in the global market and enabling more Chinese goods to reach the world.