The 'Enterprise Team' Behind the 900 Billion Foreign Trade Value

Article source: Anhui Daily

According to data from Hefei Customs, the total import and export value of Anhui Province in the first 11 months of this year was 901.57 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%, ranking fourth in the country in terms of growth rate. The scale of foreign trade has exceeded that of last year.

In this year of complex and severe foreign trade situation, Anhui's foreign trade "broke through" the 900 billion yuan mark mainly due to an increasingly globalized "enterprise team" with management capabilities. Among them, the import and export value of private enterprises has exceeded 51%, while foreign and state-owned enterprises each account for less than 1/4. This is an enterprise layout that continues to trend towards rational optimization of structure.

Continuously cultivating in the complex global market, the characteristics of this foreign trade "enterprise team" have gradually become clear: they can grasp the global "technological innovation pursuit" such as greening and intelligence in the global market and continuously build their own "moat" advantages; Having the courage to venture into the unfamiliar waters of the global market, gradually adapting to the new market environment, exploring diverse markets, and gradually breaking away from dependence on a single market; Being able to systematically and strategically promote international business, no longer limited to "doing one order at a time" and product exports, but through methods such as brand exports and even building international IP, to enhance business capabilities for the global market.

Global 'Pursuit of Technological Innovation'

On December 9th, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released the "Global Trade Update" report, which stated that despite factors such as geopolitical tensions, rising trade costs, and global demand imbalances, global trade is still expected to exceed $35 trillion for the first time in 2025. Among them, manufacturing trade is expected to grow by 10%, which will provide important momentum for global goods trade.

China is an indispensable part of the global supply chain, continuously optimizing its trade structure and moving towards the high-end of the industrial and value chains. In the trade structure, industrial manufactured goods including automobiles, integrated circuits, and mechanical products are important pillars and engines of overall trade growth.

More and more consumers around the world are favoring cars made in Anhui. The latest data from Hefei Customs shows that in the first 11 months of this year, Anhui Province exported 1.056 million vehicles (including chassis), with an annual export volume exceeding 1 million vehicles for the first time, ranking first in the country and increasing by 22.1% year-on-year; The value is 112.51 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29.5%.

The export performance of the "new three types" of high value-added foreign trade is equally impressive and is becoming a new engine to drive foreign trade growth.

In the first 11 months of this year, Anhui Province exported a total of 85.29 billion yuan worth of electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products, ranking sixth in the country in terms of export value, with a year-on-year increase of 88.2%, accounting for 14.1% of the province's total export value.

During the same period, Anhui Province exported laptops and household appliances worth 47.08 billion yuan and 32.81 billion yuan, respectively, an increase of 19.2% and 5.2% year-on-year.

The growth of exports of "new three types" and products such as laptops and home appliances has been positively supported by the trend of rising global market demand.

With the deepening of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, a significant diffusion effect it brings is the increasing demand for efficient, environmentally friendly, and intelligent products in the global market, especially in the fields of new energy and high-tech products. The pursuit of sustainable development and technological innovation in the international market provides a broad development platform for Anhui enterprises.

Adapting to the trend of global demand upgrading to continuously improve technological capabilities and enhance core competitiveness is becoming a major "moat" advantage for Anhui enterprises in global competition.

"The company actively conforms to the wave of change, deeply promotes digital transformation, and independently develops and builds an industrial Internet platform covering the whole process of air conditioning research and development, procurement, production, and marketing. With the application of" five intelligences ", it promotes the change of the business scenario of the whole value chain, effectively promotes lean production and high-end brand construction, and significantly improves the competitiveness of the international market. The company's export amount in the first three quarters of this year exceeded 5.6 billion yuan." said Shu Zhixin, customs manager of Wuhu Meizhi Air Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd.

Experts predict that the fundamental trend of global industrial and demand upgrading will not change, and efforts should be made with a global perspective and mindset to develop new quality productivity and promote the digital transformation of manufacturing. More enterprises should be guided to shift from "scale competition" to "value competition", and win the global market with technological advantages and brand autonomy.

Continuous breakthroughs in diversified market expansion

In addition to strong internal strength, the market diversification strategy effectively mitigates single market risks.

In recent years, Anhui has been deeply promoting the "Huidong Global" overseas action and partnership plan, actively promoting the "Anhui Enterprises Going Overseas". In the first 11 months of this year, Anhui's exports to ASEAN and the European Union achieved growth of 37.4% and 18.5% respectively.

Recently, in the dust-free workshop of Anhui Delin Environmental Protection Development (Group) Co., Ltd., the fully automated production line is operating efficiently at a speed of 250 paper cups per minute. The company has launched fully degradable paper cups made of PLA polylactic acid material, which can be completely degraded within 6 months.

Although the cost of fully biodegradable paper cups is 30% higher than ordinary products, monthly sales still exceed 50 million units, "said Chen Weide, the general manager of the company. The product has passed international certifications such as FDA and LFGB and is exported to more than 20 countries and regions. Since the beginning of this year, the export value has reached 17.03 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 84.2%. Among them, the performance in the ASEAN market is particularly outstanding. The company has applied for a total of 22 China ASEAN certificates of origin, with a visa amount of 5.9293 million yuan, becoming an important engine for promoting the growth of enterprise exports.

Since the beginning of this year, Anhui's foreign trade to major markets such as ASEAN and the European Union has maintained growth. In the first 11 months, ASEAN was the largest trading partner of Anhui Province, with a total trade value of 125.53 billion yuan, accounting for 13.9% of the province's total foreign trade value. The person in charge of Hefei Customs introduced that the European Union is the second largest trading partner of Anhui Province, with a total trade value of 123.33 billion yuan, accounting for 13.7%.

At the same time, Anhui's total import and export to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" was 488.36 billion yuan, up 15.9% year on year, accounting for 54.2% of the province's total foreign trade value.

The continuous breakthroughs in diversified market expansion have enhanced the confidence of enterprises.

Yijiatong New Energy Co., Ltd., located in Xuancheng City, is continuously expanding its international and domestic market territory. In order to help enterprises better expand diversified international markets such as the "the Belt and Road" countries, Xuancheng Customs launched the mode of "smart review and signature+self-service printing" of certificates of origin to achieve the goal of "reporting, reviewing and printing at the same time". In the first three quarters, more than 100 certificates of origin were issued to the enterprise, helping it reduce and exempt the tariff of importing countries by about 2.7 million yuan.

The 'zero waiting' for customs clearance has compressed the shipment cycle of goods by more than 30%, making the export of lithium batteries more and more smooth, "said the person in charge of the Group Supply Chain Center of Anhui Yijiatong Battery Co., Ltd.

Upgrade the capability system in actual combat

The dual factors of trade structure upgrading and market diversification have provided sustained and unexpected sources of resilience for exports.

Data shows that Anhui's foreign trade exports in the first 11 months amounted to 605.26 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.9%; Imports amounted to 296.31 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14%. In terms of growth rate, imports and exports, exports, and imports have all achieved double-digit growth, ranking fourth, seventh, and fifth in the country respectively. In terms of scale, it ranks ninth in the country and first in the central region.

For this year's final export forecast, most market institutions currently maintain an optimistic attitude. Taking Goldman Sachs, which recently raised its forecast for China's real GDP growth rate this year, as an example, the institution pointed out that export growth is the biggest unexpected indicator for 2025, and it is expected that China's actual exports will record a full year growth rate of 8% (in US dollars) this year.

However, the latest forecast from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development predicts that global trade growth will tend to slow down in 2026 due to a slowdown in global economic activity, rising debt, rising trade costs, and ongoing uncertainty.

The global market is naturally more turbulent, which is a new test for the business vision and ability of enterprises. Ultimately, this requires foreign trade enterprises that have grown from market competition to enhance their capability system in practical situations.

Previously, we mainly engaged in import business, importing nut raw materials from abroad. Now, the company is advancing its internationalization strategy and exporting more and more products. With the support of cross-border e-commerce platforms, hundreds of products have entered international markets such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore, "said Yu Zhenxiang, International Manager of Squirrel Cloud Supply International Trade Co., Ltd." From deepening our cultivation of nuts to focusing on full product categories, from exporting single products to three-dimensional output of IP, content, and business models, we are moving from 'product export' to 'brand export'. ”

In the first 11 months of this year, the import and export of private enterprises in Anhui Province reached 460.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.9%, accounting for 51.1% of the province's total foreign trade value. Foreign invested enterprises imported and exported 220.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.1%, accounting for 24.4% of the province's total foreign trade value. The import and export of state-owned enterprises reached 220.56 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.3%, accounting for 24.5% of the province's total foreign trade value.

This is a globalized 'corporate team' that tends towards rationality and structural optimization.

From exporting products in the past to going global with brands, technologies, and services today, from "selling globally" to "chain globally", they need to open up a path of normalized and open business development to the global market with more competitive strategies and tactics.