(Observer News/Editor Zhuang Yi/Zhang Guangkai) For foreign traders, if they thought about expanding production and operation before, their thoughts in the last two years have been more practical. COVID-19 epidemic, regional conflicts, logistics and shipping, and overseas compliance are all bombs that shock enterprises. How to survive healthily has become a top priority.

On the one hand, foreign businessmen frequently break contracts and goods are overstocked; On the one hand, sales are blocked, people can't go out at home, and orders are taken away by cheaper regions such as Southeast Asia. During last year 165438+ 10, the total import and export value of China decreased by 9.5% (previous value -0.4%). It seems that the winter of the industry has arrived.

However, unremitting struggle is our national background. The Central Working Economy Conference proposed to accelerate the construction of a new pattern of development, focus on promoting high-quality development, and vigorously boost market confidence. In addition, we should make great efforts to stabilize the scale and optimize the structure of foreign trade, make great efforts to stabilize the stock and expand the scale of foreign capital, and cultivate new growth points of international economic and trade cooperation.

Among them, there are not only small and medium-sized enterprises that actively respond to the government's call for charter flights to go to sea to grab orders, but also a large number of young teams focusing on technology research and development with digital innovation as the background, which has created another way for foreign trade to go to sea, not only unaffected by the epidemic, but even the order volume has doubled year by year.

They are the forerunners of China's foreign trade, and they are also the trendsetters created by the times. At the end of 2022, when the epidemic policy was optimized and foreign trade enterprises rushed to grab orders, we had a dialogue with some practitioners and recorded the private enterprises in China that faced the "life and death crisis" in the epidemic.

Light industrial products are trapped in OEM.

At the end of the year, Hangzhou Kudong Outdoor, who had been a foreign trade OEM for 1 1 year, did not participate in the collective tide. "We have our own plans. We have decided where to exhibit for 23 years. In the past two years, the boss will take his business colleagues to Europe to visit customers. " Tong Weixue, head of Cool Outdoor E-commerce Department, said.

Kudong Outdoor is mainly engaged in outdoor aquatic and underwater sports products, with annual sales exceeding 654.38 billion yuan, which is considered as a medium product in the industry. In 2020 and 20021year, water sports prevailed in Europe and America, and a large number of products were produced in intensive outdoor activities. However, in 2022, it immediately faced the crisis of slow sales, "customers need to clean up inventory."

The popular weather vane subject to consumption is only the first problem facing Cool Outdoor. The production threshold of inflatable boats, kayaks and other products is not high. Tong also admitted that compared with similar foreign products, the profit rate is not as good as that of foreign products.

Customers take photos with cool outdoor inflatable boats.

Is being an independent brand the way out? I tried it outdoors, but it didn't go well. Tong Weixue said that on the one hand, energy (operation) is limited, on the other hand, R&D and after-sales can't keep up. "For example, there need to be some local commissioners after the sale, which is equivalent to opening branches around the world to maintain local market relations."

After comprehensive investigation, maintaining OEM orders is still the primary task of Cool Outdoor.

As early as 20 18, Ningbo Seiters electric appliance co., ltd, also a foreign trade OEM, tried to transform itself into an independent brand for domestic sales. The OEM products such as heaters and electric fans produced in recent ten years are mainly sold in South Korea.

In 20 18, the home appliance export base in Cixi, Zhejiang Province was listed as a national foreign trade transformation and upgrading base by the Ministry of Commerce. Huo, the general manager of the company, told reporters that with the support of the policy, the domestic consumption level has also improved, and the channel strategy of paying equal attention to foreign trade and domestic sales has been implemented.

Despite being affected by the epidemic in recent years, Cetus's business has remained stable, and this time it didn't take part in charter flights. "Commodities have become less circulating products, avoiding relatively competitive products," Huo said.

Zhou Dewen, special researcher of Zhejiang Provincial People's Government, deputy director of the Central Economic Committee of China Democratic Progressive Party, invited vice president of China Small and Medium Enterprises Association and chairman of Shanghai Zhonghe Zhengdao Group, led enterprises to participate in exhibitions abroad continuously. He told Observer.com that it was more symbolic to organize enterprises to go to sea at the end of the year, "mainly to show the confidence of private entrepreneurs in China to stand in the forefront" and "secondly, to show the world that China people are not afraid of difficulties".

At the end of 2022, he inspected some private enterprises in Zhejiang. He deeply felt the risk control crisis of enterprises under the epidemic situation, and high debt ratio became the cause of death of many enterprises. He revealed that due to the sluggish international economic environment, some foreign businessmen broke their contracts, and they had no credit and no deposits.

For example, in Zhou Dewen, foreign companies signed a two-year contract, and domestic companies immediately organized production after receiving the order. When the product was ready for delivery, the foreign company directly broke the contract, and now the goods can only be accumulated in the warehouse. "If it doesn't work, it's hard to fight an international lawsuit," Zhou Dewen said, and such cases abound.

Observer. China has taken note of the situation and introduced a series of policies and safeguard measures to encourage enterprises to expand their foreign trade business. The Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Integration of Domestic and Foreign Trade (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions) points out that it is necessary to promote the improvement of laws and regulations that are conducive to the integration of domestic and foreign trade, and sort out and promote the revision of laws, regulations and normative documents that hinder the integration of domestic and foreign trade.

In addition, the Opinions also put forward suggestions such as strengthening the connection with international market standards and rules, building a highland for the integration of domestic and foreign trade, innovating foreign trade cooperation methods, and strengthening financial support.

With the gradual implementation of the Opinions in various provinces and cities across the country, it is believed that the situation of small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises will be greatly improved.

Innovative business to seize the market

"Frankly speaking, if we weren't a China company, the chances of making intelligent manufacturing would be very small. At present, most of the global supply chain resources are located in China, especially in Greater Bay Area, which is rich in industrial chain resources. This geographical advantage still exists. " Chen Yongqiang, co-founder of Shadow Stone Innovation, told the Observer.

Yingshi Innovation is an enterprise born in China. Thanks to technological innovation and the rise of digital economy, it has filled the technical gap in the domestic panoramic image field, won 238 patents at home and abroad, and successively won the national special innovation "Little Giant" enterprise, the national single champion product of manufacturing industry and the first prize of Shenzhen Scientific Progress.

When asked whether it was affected by industrial chain transfer and technology blockade, Chen Yongqiang said no, focusing on high-value industrial links such as technology research and development, product design and sales, and owning a warehousing and logistics group in the center of the supply chain, which has the ability of product warehousing, distribution and delivery, so that Shi Ying has enough confident capital for innovation.

In 2022, when the external environment changed dramatically, it was the year with the most innovative products. Five new products have been launched continuously, and creative gameplay with different forms and functions has been developed. As a young enterprise, Yingshi Innovation has long combined online and offline sales channels. There are independent stations online, settled in retail platforms, and reached cooperation with distributors in more than 60 countries around the world offline.

Shadow Stone Insta360 panorama camera

Chen Yongqiang introduced that at present, its major overseas customers are from the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea, and the product NPS (net recommended value) has been increasing year by year, and users generally evaluate the products as "young" and "creative".

Chen Yongqiang is very optimistic about the performance of the new year. With the help of outdoor sports, the personal consumption market still has a lot of room for development. It is estimated that the total scale of outdoor sports industry in China will exceed 3 trillion yuan in 2025.

In addition, from the perspective of the industry market, with the further development of VR and 5G technologies, panoramic imaging technology is integrated with many industries, and new formats and models of digital economy are booming. For example, in the fields of VR news reporting, VR digital real estate modeling, street view map collection, panoramic surveying and intelligent inspection, panorama camera will have a huge and extensive development space.

Beon Technology from Suzhou has also gained a large number of overseas customers with its innovative technology products.

In 2009, five doctors studying in the United States returned to China and founded Beon Technology. The main products are washable air purifiers. With innovative technology, products have been sold to more than 70 countries around the world, such as Japan, Germany and the United States.

Dr. Zhang Yan, co-founder of Beon, told the Observer. The fans and filter screens of traditional air purifiers need to be cleaned and replaced regularly because of their passive adsorption characteristics. Beon has developed a washable filter for users to reuse. Greatly saves the cost of consumables. In addition, the active disinfection mode also makes the air purification effect better than the traditional mode.

This environmentally friendly and innovative product is well received by overseas customers, especially hospitals and schools. Zhangyan said that their products have been put on record in China, and have passed eight certifications such as ETL in the United States and SGS in Switzerland.

Italian customers take photos with Beyonder products.

Zhang Haiyun, head of Beon's overseas business, revealed that in the past three years, their orders have doubled every year. Although they did not participate in the concentrated sea activities at the end of the year, they already have plans to participate in overseas exhibitions in 2023. "We have a branch in the United States, which is responsible for local market development."

For the latecomers, if there is no deep background, it is difficult to find opportunities in a red sea. Different from the technological innovation of Shi Ying and Beyonce, Zhao Yunqi, a post-90s generation from Anhui Province, has found a new way in the field of new energy by virtue of service innovation.

"When my colleagues mentioned me, what they said most was that Zhao Yunqi was crazy. Did he also accept the order of 1000 dollars? " But if you don't take these small orders, how can you survive in the predicament of no one, no money, no background and no resources? Zhao Yunqi knew very well that he had no choice.

Zhao Yunqi's first bucket of gold came from the end of 20 17. He clearly remembers that it was a list of 200 kW solar energy systems with a price tag of 15 USD. "We sell solar panels and provide Android solutions, which is not only a business relationship, but also provides installation guidance and cross-border transportation for customers, and provides services and solutions in them, not ending when they are sold out."

Hefei Shengwei Technology Solar Panel Installation Project

In the past three years, the epidemic in COVID-19 has caused more shopping habits to shift from offline to online, which has brought huge traffic to shops in Zhao Yunqi. At the same time, the energy crisis in Europe in 2022 also brought opportunities to China's dormant new energy market. Zhao Yunqi said that in 2022, the export volume is expected to reach more than 4 billion, while in 2026, the figure is only1.400 million, 5438+0.

Innovation drives development, which is well reflected in Shi Ying, Bayon and Shengwei. The "14th Five-Year Plan" proposes to improve the market-oriented mechanism of technological innovation, strengthen the dominant position of enterprise innovation, and promote the gathering of various innovation elements to enterprises.

In recent years, innovative products and services have increasingly become the weight for foreign trade enterprises to break through, and China's resilience in the industrial chain continues to play a role.

From the perspective of auto parts export, according to the data of General Administration of Customs compiled by China Automobile Industry Association, in 2022, the export value of auto parts was US$ 76.59 billion, up by 65.438+065.438+0.7% year-on-year, accounting for 58.9% of the total export value of auto goods. The cross-border index of Alibaba International Station shows that the technical content and cost performance of auto parts in China are gradually improving, and the products in China market are complete and numerous, which can give play to the price advantage.

This confidence is also reflected in the fear that some industries in China will be transferred to India or Southeast Asian countries due to cost factors. Guo Weiwei, an assistant macro researcher in TF Securities, said in an interview with Observer.com that if the "carbon tariff" becomes a more common international trade barrier represented by Europe, its cost will actually be reconstructed.

The layout of the global manufacturing industry chain depends not only on the cost, but also on the security and stability as well as the policies or political pressures implemented by various countries. Guo Weiwei believes that "the original cost may refer to labor, land and electricity, and now we must consider the' carbon cost'. After all, India and other Southeast Asian countries have more extensive production processes and lack corresponding means to slow down the' carbon tariff'. "

Guo Weiwei said that the land cost and labor force in the western part of our country are relatively low, and it is also the area with the most concentrated development of new energy. In the traditional sense, industries with high energy consumption, especially chemical industry, can be transferred from Southeast Asian countries to the west of China, which will be conducive to the coordinated development of China's regions and to maintaining the advantages of China's entire industrial chain.

Going to the world still needs to cultivate internal strength.

On June 38+03, 2003, the General Administration of Customs initially estimated that the import and export of cross-border e-commerce in 2022 was 2 1 1 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.8%. Among them, exports 1.55 trillion yuan, an increase of 1 1.7%, imports 0.56 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.9%. In addition, the report "Digital Platform Helps SMEs Participate in Global Supply Chain Competition" predicts that the B2B market size of cross-border e-commerce in China will reach 13.9 trillion yuan in 2025.

This means that the potential of cross-border e-commerce still has considerable room for imagination. How do these foreign trade enterprises go abroad and gain great influence when specific operations land?

Chen Yongqiang summed up his innovative experience of going to sea with Shi Ying in three points: good products, localization and diversification.

Good products are the basis for enterprises to go to sea. No matter which market segment the product is positioned in, it needs to be supported by good products.

Localization is the basic work to enter a market, and it is also the most easily overlooked place for many enterprises. Chen Yongqiang, for example, said that many enterprises did not pay enough attention to localization. For example, official website's copywriting, many enterprises think that it is only necessary to find a professional translation agency, but in fact, narrative logic and content itself are very important;

In addition, to be a real global market, we should not rely too much on a single regional market or channel, but need a diversified layout to hedge against uncertainty.

Lu Gangliang, president of Shunde Industrial Design Association, expressed optimism about the manufacturing prospects of China, but he also told Observer.com that there are two major problems to be solved: intellectual property rights and advanced manufacturing.

"Some of our current technological innovations still rely on the past experience of developed countries. I hope that the brand can have some completely independent innovations in the process of going out to sea, and there are fewer shortcomings in technology and supply chain. " Lu Gangliang, for example, said that we have sufficient advantages in the efficiency and cost scale of the supply chain, but now the small household appliances such as air conditioners and rice cookers we use are all invented by countries such as Europe, America, Japan and South Korea. I hope that in the future, there will be bottom-level technological innovation in materials, electromechanical and other aspects, so as to "let China's inventions be used all over the world".

Zhou Dewen also called on the government and social organizations to help some enterprises with financial difficulties, especially traditional enterprises with low profits, to find business opportunities for them. Only by helping enterprises can they get out of the predicament and reorganize their business.

Zhang Kuo, president of Alibaba International Station, who has rich experience in going to sea, said that from the platform side, they provided a digital package for enterprises to go to sea. This year, they also launched digital mixed exhibition, live video reception, cross-border payment and other services, covering more than ten important markets such as the United States, Europe and Japan, providing agency solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises that want to test water and save costs.

Zhang Kuo said that the recovery of consumer confidence will see the effect in a relatively fast cycle. Although the retail inventory in North America is at an all-time high and CPI is still rising, shipping is returning from the seller's market to the buyer's market. "In just 10 months, the active visit traffic of the website has increased by more than 20%."

Observer. Com noted that in recent years, the state has successively issued a series of policies to develop global trade and cross-border electronic commerce, and put forward development plans in standardizing the development of digital economy, expanding the comprehensive experimental zone of e-commerce, and cross-border logistics, which provided support for enterprise management.

At the same time, the central working economy conference at the end of the year emphasized the need to create a market-oriented, rule-of-law and international first-class business environment, which also means that the current policy planning and implementation need to be further refined and improved.

"The reform of' decentralization, strengthening supervision and improving services' has achieved remarkable results, and enterprises have new expectations for long-term investment and layout after the epidemic." Professor Jiang Xiaojuan, member of the 13th the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) and vice chairman of the Social Construction Committee of the National People's Congress, put forward suggestions from two aspects: optimizing the business environment and promoting the internal and external double cycle at the Tsinghua University symposium in early 2023.

Jiang Xiaojuan pointed out that while continuing to simplify the access procedures, the government should pay more attention to creating a market-oriented environment for fair competition for all types of enterprises; While continuing to introduce preferential policies, we should pay more attention to building a stable, transparent and predictable legal environment; In addition, while continuing to improve the system and mechanism of resource allocation in the domestic market, we will pay more attention to creating an international environment for market-oriented allocation of cross-border resources.

Jiang Xiaojuan believes that China's 40-year experience in WTO accession and reform and opening-up fully shows that the competitiveness of China enterprises and China industries often exceeds our expectations, and they will survive and develop tenaciously under pressure and form stronger competitiveness in fierce competition. At present, China has joined or applied to join several high-standard trading systems, such as RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement), CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement) and DEPA (Digital Economic Partnership Agreement). Therefore, she suggested continuing to deepen domestic related fields, and at the same time speeding up the construction of a high-level market system, which was recognized by the international community.

"China's huge domestic market, favorable development conditions and institutional advantages brought by proper cooperation between the market and the government will have great attraction to global investors and encourage them to start businesses in China". Jiang Xiaojuan said.