Chinese business delegations go overseas for economic, trade activities

By Du Yifei, People’s Daily

Chinese provincial governments are sending business delegations overseas for economic and trade activities, through charter and shared flights, to promote economic recovery and get rid of the impacts from COVID-19.

Recently, a trade delegation consisting of 59 foreign trade enterprises from southeast China’s Fujian province attended the ISPO Munich, a leading international trade show for the sports business in Germany, and made over $300 million of intended deals.

Suzhou of Jiangsu province in east China chartered planes to send business delegations to Japan, hoping to sign deals of over $140 million.

On Dec. 4, Zhejiang province launched an action plan to send 10,000 foreign trade enterprises overseas to attend exhibitions and visit clients before the end of 2023, so as to help them gain more opportunities.

“In just two days, we have met 110 clients and reached intended deals of around $43 million ,” said Min En’guang, sales manager of Brilsta, a high-tech enterprise specializing in the research and development and sales of food raw materials, at the Health ingredients (Hi) Europe, a leading nutritional ingredients event held in Paris.

Brilsta is a beneficiary of the action plan launched by Zhejiang province, and many other Zhejiang companies also attended the event in Paris.

As one of the three major drivers of China’s economic growth, foreign trade is of vital importance.

The spreading COVID-19 pandemic and the complex and volatile international situation have to some extent hindered the communication between Chinese foreign trade companies and their overseas clients in the past three years.

As China constantly optimizes its COVID-19 control measures, to advance economic development has become a consensus among all regions across the country.

An official with the commerce department of south China’s Guangdong province said that government-organized charter flights and other measures could help enterprises gain wider information about the overseas market.

“By offering ideas for enterprises and connecting them to the overseas market, the government has conveyed a clear signal of helping them expand business in foreign countries,” the official said.

As a matter of fact, the Chinese government has rolled out a series of policies this year to stabilize the foreign trade sector.

In April, the country stepped up export tax rebates to support foreign trade, and a month later, it issued 13 policies to help foreign trade companies navigate the trough.

A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee proposed this month to boost opening up at a higher level and to further attract and make good use of foreign investment.

These measures have effectively stabilized and vitalized China’s foreign trade, and expanded the country’s advantages in the sector.

While Chinese enterprises are going overseas, foreign investors are also showing their confidence in the Chinese market.

In the first three quarters this year, foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, topped the 1-trillion-yuan mark, up 15.6 percent year on year.

This year, BMW Brilliance, a joint venture between BMW and China’s Brilliance Auto, put into use its Plant Lydia in northeast China’s Liaoning province, which is BMW’s third car assembly facility in China. Carl Zeiss AG, a leading manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics from Germany started building a new production base in Suzhou. Besides, German multinational chemical company BASF put into use the first plants of its Verbund site in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, with a total investment of about 10 billion euros (about $9.93 billion).

These cases all demonstrated the strong vitality and appeal of the Chinese economy.

Recently, the Chinese government issued 10 new measures to optimize its epidemic control. It is believed that these measures will further boost the recovery of the country’s economy and release more development potential.

As the world economic recovery faces headwinds, the stable development of the Chinese economy will boost confidence for the international community.

Morgan Stanley predicted that the Chinese economy will grow five percent in 2023, which is expected to contribute about one quarter of global growth.

China’s sustained economic development added dynamism to the global economy, and the country is on the right side of history in keeping on promoting economic globalization, said former World Bank economist Mwangi Wajira, reckoning that China’s high-quality development will bring more confidence and opportunities for the world.