Chongqing's Foreign Trade Enterprises Race to Secure Orders

At 9:00 a.m. on December 8, a truck loaded with small household appliances and daily necessities (worth RMB500,000), departed from Yufu New City in Liangjiang New Area, heading for Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport. This batch of goods is destined for Europe.

After watching the truck depart, Liu Zuoyan, Senior Business Manager of Shengxi Trading Co., Ltd. a local company in Chongqing, pointed out that "our company dispatches 4 or 5 such trucks daily recently. With Christmas coming up in foreign countries, we must rush to deliver." In previous years, the company exported goods to Europe and America via rail or shipping in November. This year, due to the COVID-19, they switched to air transport, which significantly reduces delivery time.

Liu said, "If we seize the moment and push hard, we still have hope of achieving the annual target."

According to a journalist from Chongqing Daily, as Chongqing steadily advances work resumption, the foreign trade import and export sector is taking active steps, striving to achieve annual goals through steady progress.

Enterprises

Steady Operations, Order-Hunting

On the morning of December 3, the transport vehicle of CHONGQING NEWAY IMP. & EXP. CO., LTD. entered Guoyuan Port to load cassava flour stacked at the dock.

"Imports were slightly affected during this pandemic wave, but the impact was not severe. Most of the goods arrived in Chongqing in mid-November, but some formalities required offline completion, resulting in temporary storage at the port", the company's chairman Wang Jingchun said.

After gradual work resumption, Wang immediately dispatched his team to handle the on-site procedures, so as to deliver the backlogged goods to customers as quickly as possible.

Wang noted that the biggest challenge during this pandemic wave was customers' reluctance to place new orders due to concerns over lockdowns. Currently, the company is actively communicating with clients to gradually dispel their doubts and secure more orders.

Shengxi Trading Co., Ltd. is facing similar challenges and responses. According to General Manager He Daoguo, during the pandemic, reduced staff and insufficient factory production weakened clients' willingness to place orders. At present, the company is urgently liaising with customers, aiming to secure more import orders for the Spring Festival.

Wang stated that so far this year, the company's operational indicators have slightly increased year-on-year.

He Daoguo stated that "our total import and export value this year is around RMB2 billion". This figure represents a roughly 5% year-on-year growth. In the final month, the company will ramp up efforts to further boost performance.

YUOU Cross-Border E-commerce Co., Ltd. (YUOU), one of Chongqing's well-known cross-border e-commerce enterprises, is actively preparing for the "Double 12" shopping festival. A staff member revealed that with advanced planning, its online business ran smoothly and was not significantly affected during the pandemic. In December, it will operate as scheduled.

Platforms

Ensuring smooth import & export operations for foreign trade enterprises

Logistics bases and ports serve as vital carriers for foreign trade. As foreign trade enterprises are resuming proactive operations, these platforms are also striving to provide supporting services to ensure smooth operations.

At 8:00 a.m. on December 8, Fang Liang, Deputy General Manager of Chongqing Orchard Container Terminal Co., Ltd. (COCTC), washed up in his office to start a new day of work. He has been working under closed-loop management at the company for a month.

Not just him, 90% of COCTC's employees are under closed-loop management to prevent port congestion.

Fang pointed that Guoyuan Port's foreign trade container business remains very stable. As key areas for foreign trade, ports must have sufficient staff to maintain operations, hence the closed-loop work model has been adopted.

As Chongqing steadily advances work resumption, COCTC plans to adjust staff deployment but will still maintain the "two-point, one-line" management model for some time. Fang noted that many foreign trade enterprises will strive for performance in December. By adopting a relatively static management approach to reduce foreign trade container backlog, the company aims to support Chongqing's foreign trade in maintaining stability while achieving steady progress, so as to achieve the annual target.

Not far from Guoyuan Port lies the China-Singapore Chongqing Multimodal Transportation Demonstration Base.

A relevant base official said, "Since December, we've clearly felt an increase in goods volume". In addition to the overall increase, goods bound for Central Asia and cold-chain food trade volume have significantly increased compared to November. Therefore, the base is increasing the frequency of water and rail transport to Central Asia in response to market demand.

The official also stated that they will continue to strengthen communication with enterprises to understand their needs and optimize services such as freight forwarding and transportation, enabling more enterprises to benefit from convenient transport services.

Channels

Guaranteeing smooth "Outbound and Inbound" foreign trade logistics

China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe) and New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor are Chongqing's key logistics channels connecting the west and south for international trade. Whether during the pandemic or the current work resumption phase, both channels have maintained stable operations to ensure foreign trade goods can go out and come in smoothly.

Du Haonan, an operations specialist at YUXINOU said, "Enterprises contacting us have clearly increased in these days. Both local clients in Chongqing and foreign enterprises are actively booking shipping space."

Du is mainly responsible for domestic and international train schedule applications, communication with domestic and foreign agents, handling train emergencies, and liaising with domestic port agents. He said he will be more meticulous to improve service quality.

A relevant manager of YUXINOU stated that "in the future, we will refine the dispatch plan, scientifically match trucks and containers, and meet the needs for stable and efficient train operations." Currently, the company maintains close communication with customers, agents, and railway departments to ensure schedule stability, timely feedback on train operation information, and fully guarantee customers' shipment stability.

New Land-Sea Corridor Operation Co., Ltd. is also optimizing follow-up services based on actual conditions.

The company's manager pointed that "we are strengthening information-based management to understand enterprises' demands." Currently, enterprises have shown strong demand for beef imports, pharmaceutical customs transit, and new energy vehicle exports. The company will take targeted measures to ensure foreign trade goods can go out and come in smoothly.

In terms of data, the two major channels also operated very steadily in November. In November this year, China-Europe Railway Express (Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe) transported 21,000 TEUs; Chongqing operated over 150 rail-sea intermodal trains via the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in November, totaling nearly 6,700 TEUs with a total value of RMB680 million. The goods included grain, canned food, light industrial and pharmaceutical products, machinery and electrical equipment, chemical raw materials and products, non-metallic ores, and mineral building materials.

Source: Chongqing Daily