Foreign Trade Updates
On April 1st, two 64.3m-high, 605-ton gantry cranes were first directly exported from Xiangshan Port (Ningbo) to Indonesia by Ningbo Lihua. Xiangshan Port and Customs optimized processes, saving over 3 million yuan per trip and cutting delivery time by half a month. 10 batches are planned this year (600 million yuan output), aiming to double next year.
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In Q1 2026, Ningbo Zhoushan Port's Meishan Port Area hit a record 3.5+ million TEU container throughput (13.3% YoY growth). Supported by optimized operations, smart customs (inspection robots), new berths, cross-border e-commerce, and multimodal transport, it laid a solid foundation for annual development.
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Shenzhen Customs reported its foreign trade hit a new high in the first two months of this year, with import/export reaching 824.23 billion yuan (37.3% YoY growth). Highlights include optimized product structure, diverse trade partners, and private enterprises as the main force.
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The Ministry of Commerce issued Guiding Opinions to promote e-commerce high-quality development serving the real economy, covering AI+e-commerce, rural/industrial e-commerce, and expanding Silk Road E-commerce cooperation; China has been the world's largest online retail market for 13 years.
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The "2025 Environmental Assessment Report for SME Development" released by China Center for SME Promotion covers 50 cities, evaluating market, legal, financing, innovation & policy environments. It shows optimized SME environment, improved financing/innovation, but notes cost pressures & structural mismatches, with suggestions to further optimize the environment.
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South African Ministry of Finance predicts 1.6% economic growth in 2026, with fiscal discipline and reforms yielding results (sovereign credit rating upgrade). Agriculture, tourism, green industries drive recovery; challenges include energy costs, logistics bottlenecks. China-South Africa deepen economic cooperation via a joint development agreement.
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The EU plans to tighten IVA bicycle certification rules (possibly excluding US large pickups), opposed by US carmakers as non-tariff barriers. The EU cites regulatory autonomy on safety/environmental standards, straining their fragile trade relationship amid disputes over the 2025 framework agreement.
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The overall plan for China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone was released on April 9, 2026. Covering Hohhot, Manzhouli and Erenhot, it aims to break the "only connecting without gathering" bottleneck, upgrade the China-Mongolia-Russia corridor, activate characteristic industries, and advance institutional innovation for high-level northward opening.
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On April 8, Guangzhou’s Municipal Bureau of Commerce announced plans to internationalize its professional markets, targeting 20M+ overseas buyers and 10.95B yuan in market procurement exports by 2025, via a "six modernizations" system and three key tasks to enhance cross-border trade and brand globalization.
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At a Ministry of Commerce press conference on the 9th, spokesperson He Yadong addressed rare earth export control (suspended until Nov 2026), China-EU trade relations (calling for EU to abandon protectionism), "Export to China" event plans, and e-commerce high-quality development guiding opinions.
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Recently, Dalian launched Northeast China’s first imported iron ore bonded crushing business. This model shifts overseas crushing to domestic ports, improves safety, cuts delivery time from 45 to 3 days, and is supported by customs measures. It aims to build Dalian into a supply chain hub and boost the local steel industry.
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On March 31st, the direct flight from Qingdao to Penang, Malaysia (first from Shandong Province and northern China to Penang) opened smoothly. It operates every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday with 6.5h one-way time. Qingdao Airlines says it fills the transport gap; customs optimizes clearance and supports route preparation.
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