At the end of 2022, the phrase “double vying”, which perhaps reminds you of farming, became a buzzword. Vying for foreign trade orders and cooperation opportunities has drawn people’s attention. The coastal provinces of China began to charter airplanes to go abroad for more foreign trade orders and cooperation opportunities. Jiaxing, one of the coastal cities of Zhejiang, took the earliest action to vie for the foreign trade orders and cooperation opportunities with the sincere help of local governments, and the enterprises participating in this vying have made remarkable progress in this competition. 

The amount of foreign trade orders is the “barometer” of foreign trade. In face of challenges and expectations, Jiaxing has obtained a large number of overseas orders. 

Why did “double vying” happen? What did enterprises vie for? The past two months was just a beginning of economic recovery.

What is “double vying”? Perhaps now many young people are not familiar with it. But it has been deeply remembered by those born in 1960s and 1970s in China.

“Double vying” used to mean that farmers vied to harvest early rice and transplant late rice in summer. Just as a saying goes in Jiaxing, “Farmers refuse to transplant rice after autumn comes” because after autumn, the temperature drops violently, and rice seeding grows slowly, and rice output will decrease sharply. 15 days before the autumn is a key period for farmers.

Farmers have to vie with the time to transplant rice. They sometimes have to labor all day and all night in the paddy fields despite the burning sun, and most of them used to feel exhausted during that period of time.

At the end of 2022, the coovid-19 began to fade away, and foreign trade markets then were just like paddy fields before autumn. In last November, China’s export declined by 8.7% from 0.3% of last October, the maximum decline since February 2020. The same happened to the import. It slumped by 10.6% year on year from 0.7% of October 2022, the maximum decline since May 2020.

Although Jiaxing was better generally than other regions then, it was still concerned about vying for overseas orders and opportunities.

As to enterprises, one face-to-face interview is better than 1,000-email communication. To seek face-to-face communication channels is a targeted way to approach overseas trade partners.  

In the past three year when the covid-19 was pandemic, the overseas markets perhaps experienced earth-shaking changes. “It has been three years since we visited foreign friends. Are they still our friends now? ” which worried and troubled Jiaxing’s entrepreneurs.

Therefore, going abroad is not an excursion, but a race under pressure. It is a road that has to be taken by the government and enterprises.

On December 4, 2022, the largest municipal-level foreign trade delegation in China-the delegation of Jiaxing went to Japan, Germany and France to vie for trade orders and opportunities. By chartered plane, the delegation led by officials and made up of the representatives of enterprises went abroad for foreign trade orders, which meant the foreign trade then was urgent. Actually it is a way to strengthen confidence and work for the future. 

Similarly, enterprises’ going abroad for foreign trade orders is just like farmers’ race against harvest time in the past. Although it is difficult, they are all fearless despite strong wind and heavy rain.

At Tokyo AFF Exhibition in Japan, the intended trade orders received by the delegation of Jiaxing are expected to make Jiaxing’s textile and garment industry export increase by 5% in the first quarter of the year; at an European exhibition held in France for healthy and natural food ingredients, Zhejiang Shangfang Biotechnology Co., Ltd. in Pinghu obtained 30-million-yuan intended orders.

Behind the the long-lost strong recovery of foreign trade are joint efforts of local governments and enterprises.

Governments’ leading role is a characteristic of this vying for foreign trade orders. In face of difficulties, officials, enterprises and enterprises dare to stand up to overcome hardship to stabilize economy and foreign trade, which reflects Jiaxing’s resolute leadership and decision making.    

With a view to achieving greater progress, Jiaxing organized various business activities, implemented the preferential policies in expanding markets, held a number of policy publicity activities preventing risks in expanding markets and market docking activities to support enterprises’ overseas development, and established digital trade platforms to expand overseas markets.    

Jiaxing has taken actual steps to establish the bridges towards foreign trade. On January 3, 2023 Jiaxing issued 18 measures to strengthen enterprises’ confidence and stabilize foreign trade, and it stipulates the government shall provide subsidies to the enterprises having gone abroad for investment attraction.

Besides, the government also provides considerate services for enterprises. For example, official visas usually allow enterprises’ representatives to stay in a county just for five days, but actually there is only three days except two-day journey on the planes. In order to make them stay longer in a country, Bureau of Commerce of Jiaxing delivered more than 10 reports to superior departments in charge to apply to prolong the validity of the visas to seven days and their efforts succeeded finally.

For years, the governments and enterprises of Jiaxing have cooperated in a harmonious and effective matter, reflecting Jiaxing enjoys a good business environment.

Some bosses sighed with emotion that going abroad for trade orders and cooperation opportunities is our return to the world, and if we fail to do that, the orders will be taken away by others, so it is a measure to get back what used to belong to us.

Jiaxing’s efforts were warmly welcomed. Jiaxing Shanhui Clothing Co., Ltd. obtained a large number of trade orders from Japan, and felt foreign markets’ strong enthusiasm about China’s enterprises. According to Hua Yifan, a customer manager of the company, Japanese customers were very happily surprised to see their old friends, and hoped that Chinese guests would visit their enterprise.

The same happened to Europe. CEO of Foreign Trade of Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Germany in Berlin gave a warm reception to the trade delegation of Jiaxing. He said cheerfully, it was the first trade delegation from China he received after the covid-19 pandemic.

The delegation of Jiaxing has been ready to participate in such fairs and exhibitions in the world as the Fashion Show in Paris and Asia Pacific Procurement Fair in Cologne this month, the professional exhibitions in Bangladesh, Romania, South Korea, Germany and Vietnam in March, and those to be held in Japan, Germany, France and Southeast Asian countries in April.

Going abroad for foreign trade orders actually is a dialogue with foreign trade partners and a way to strive for more investment projects and development opportunities.

Here are some persuasive data. At the end of this January, IMF raised its forecast of the global growth of 2023 to 2.9% from 2.7% of last October for the reason that China’s economic recovery is faster than what has been expected. 

Jiaxing’s efforts to vie for more trade orders and cooperation opportunities are a mirror of economic strong bounce back after the covid-19 faded away.