Henan Daily: Looking at the Strength in the Numbers | Henan's import and export volume increased by 14.1% year-on-year, creating a new overseas market

Foreign trade is an important driving force for economic growth and a key link between domestic and international circulations. Last year, the import and export volume of Henan Province was 935.67 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.1%, which was 10.3 percentage points higher than the national average. The scale remained in the first place in the country, ranking tenth in the country and second in the central region. Overall, the province's foreign trade development has strong momentum, continuous optimization of structure, and full vitality of enterprises, demonstrating strong resilience in the complex and ever-changing global economic environment.

Behind the impressive numbers is the hard work of Henan's foreign trade personnel. If it weren't for his deep love for the iron cabinet industry, he wouldn't have appeared on such a rainy day. "On January 24th, the person in charge of a steel furniture company in Luoyang wrote this sentence on his WeChat Moments, targeting the UK. Recently, he has been conducting market research and developing new clients in Europe. Many Henan foreign trade personnel, like him, tirelessly work hard to open up a broader overseas world for "Made in Henan". Last year, Henan's foreign trade partners covered more than 200 countries and regions around the world, with a total import and export of 488.22 billion yuan to the top five trading partners, accounting for 52.2% of the total import and export value. Among them, the growth rates of the European Union, ASEAN, Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia all exceeded double digits.

Opening the door to more overseas markets ultimately depends on the hard power of the product. Last year, we focused on technological breakthroughs such as the full tube rate of long fibers and the AA rate of spandex, continuously improving the competitiveness of our products. The annual export volume of regenerated cellulose long fibers increased by 16.88% year-on-year; This year, the company plans to promote its unique 'mushroom grass filament' as its flagship product to the international market, "said the person in charge of the foreign trade department of Xinxiang Chemical Fiber. This is also a microcosm of Henan's export structure moving towards novelty and excellence. Last year, the export of high-tech products in our province reached 249.86 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.4%. High tech and high value-added products have been deeply integrated into the global industrial chain.

Enterprises are the source of more vitality in foreign trade. By 2025, there will be 14000 enterprises with export performance in the province, an increase of 2197 compared to 2024; Among them, the role of private enterprises as the "main force" is more prominent. In the Jiyuan Demonstration Zone, a land of outward oriented economic activity, there are constantly new forces joining the overseas team. Last year, we successfully helped two new foreign trade enterprises, Yangguang Rabbit Industry Technology Co., Ltd. and Desa Automobile (Jiyuan) Co., Ltd., successfully go global, achieving two 'zero breakthroughs' in Henan's exports of European and American rabbit meat and Jiyuan's whole vehicle exports. The relevant person in charge of Jiyuan Customs stated that this year, we will further improve the efficiency of regulatory services and allow more local enterprises to enter the international market.

Carefully cultivating characteristic industries and leveraging the "Air, Land, and Sea" Silk Road to achieve "buying globally and selling globally" is another card played by Henan's foreign trade. Nowadays, 90% of the world's violins are produced in China, and 80% of China's mid to high end handmade violins come from Queshan, Henan. Queshan, a small county town located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, has risen to become the "hometown of Chinese violins" with an annual output value of over 600 million yuan and a gathering of more than 100 upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain. In order to further help expand the export scale of Henan made violins, the local government has also come up with many ways. We have delved into the violin industry park and accurately interpreted policy dividends through methods such as' door-to-door policy delivery '. At the same time, we have further improved customs clearance convenience, compressed the inspection cycle of export goods to 0.5 days, and helped reduce production and export costs, "said the person in charge of the Comprehensive Business Department of Zhumadian Customs.

Thousands of enterprises have gone through storms and hardships, innovative products have won trust, market entities have become more dynamic, and characteristic industries have borrowed ships to go abroad... In the new year, Henan will adopt a more open attitude and strive to create a new atmosphere for foreign trade development.