"At the beginning of this year, there were guests who came to place orders, all of which were received through mobile phones."
On February 12, Yiwu International Trade City, known as the "wind vane" of global small commodity trade, opened its market. Zhu Xinchun, general manager of Yiwu Hanlin Electronics Co., Ltd., who came to the market early in the morning to replace the store with Xinlian, told First Finance and Economics that "the orders for this year's Spring Festival are better than last year", and the "opening red" is an order from an old Russian customer, and the customer looks at the new products they have developed.
Official data show that on the first day of the opening of the market, Yiwu International Trade City, with a total of 75,000 commercial seats, had a total opening rate of 88.3%, attracting 39,000 buyers from inside and outside the province to the scene, and the total flow of people exceeded 200,000.
Wang Xiangrong, general manager of Yiwu Mall Group Market Operation Company, told First Finance that this year's market, in terms of opening rate and passenger flow, is more lively than last year. One of the highlights of this year's Market Opening Day was the use of online live streaming for the first time, which simultaneously issued invitations to global buyers. Affected by the epidemic, many foreign companies still cannot reach the Yiwu market to purchase this year, and the main battlefield of trading has shifted from offline to online.
Stop work without stopping orders
For Yiwu, "no stop work" is the norm for local market merchants during the Spring Festival holiday.
"Due to the early holiday time last year, logistics stopped earlier than in previous years, and this year customers began to urge shipments early." He Dan, the store manager of Yiwu Jingxin Toys Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jingxin Toys"), told First Financial Economics that domestic buyers began to place orders around the sixth day of the first year, while overseas merchants began to consult and place orders before the holiday.
Jingxin Toys specializes in the production of various types of simulated dolls, intelligent voice dialogue dolls, etc., and registered the trademark of "Snow White". Due to the large number of non-local employees returning to their hometowns for the Chinese New Year this year, He Dan said that the factory will start construction on the sixteenth day of the first month. However, because the raw materials and semi-finished products have been prepared in advance, as long as the factory is assembled after the start of construction, it can be shipped after a day or two.
In He Dan's view, this year's orders have made a good start, and it is expected that the overall will be better than last year, one of the reasons is that last year's sea freight rate soared, and some foreign merchants were in a wait-and-see mentality without stock, "Now that the hand is empty, the market will continue to rebound."
For them, increasing efforts to develop new products is an important driving force to attract merchants. "Through last year's research and development, we have also made sufficient preparations for new product manufacturers this year, waiting for new customers in 2022."
Jin Xiao, the manager of the Xiumei family with earring jewelry as the main product, told First Finance and Economics that they also plan to produce more new products this year, "the previous frequency was new every week, and this year it is new every day." Under the epidemic, there are more and more buyers who live stream goods, and they pay attention to new speeds.
Since the old customers have begun to place orders for replenishment, Jin Xiao's factory has also started construction at the same time.
Zhu Xinchun's factory also started construction on the day of the opening of the market on the 12th. In order to better attract orders, they specifically divide the products into two categories - drainage and profit, of which the drainage is a creative new product, used to attract new orders, but the profit may be relatively thin, and the profit model refers to products with higher added value and more stable profits.
Luthor, a buyer from Cameroon, has been in Yiwu for more than 5 years. On the morning of the 12th, he and his companions stood in the merchant seat of Jinhua Special Baihui Handicraft for a long time, and they were quite interested in the transfer products that could DIY print patterns on cups, T-shirts and other products. "We've seen this kind of transfer device online but haven't tried it yet, and we want to find some new products to sell to our country this year."
Wu Dandan, the store manager of Tebaihui, said that they mainly sell blank consumables and machines for transfer printing, 70% to 80% of which are foreign trade business, and most of the merchants come from the Middle East and other places, and the customer's return orders are now mainly online.
The proportion of domestic sales has increased
In addition to the diversion method of offline to online, under the new pattern of double circulation, more and more Yiwu foreign trade enterprises are also "walking on two legs" in foreign trade, and the proportion of domestic sales is increasing.
"We are doing both domestic trade and foreign trade, which used to be half and half, and domestic trade has accounted for 70% of the proportion under the background of the epidemic." Jin Xiao said that their original products are mainly exported to Brazil and other places, and now they are more sold to domestic consumers through live e-commerce and other means.
For Zhu Xinchun, the business structure of 10 years ago, where foreign trade accounted for as much as 90%, has also become a new pattern in which the proportion of domestic sales exceeds foreign trade, reaching 60%. He said that the company has independently developed hundreds of products with design patents, and will also develop explosive models suitable for the domestic market in a targeted manner.
In a hurry to open the market, Wang Wei, a buyer who came to Yiwu from Zhoukou, Henan Province, said that there were more than 30 people who came with him in a group. Due to the local construction of a Yiwu small commodity domestic sales base, they will come to Yiwu to purchase three or four times a year, and the business volume has increased every year.
Wang Xiangrong said that under the epidemic, the overall domestic sales ratio of the operators of the International Trade City has increased. As an export-oriented market, with the recovery of the global economy, Yiwu's competitiveness such as "complete categories and highly concentrated industrial chain" will continue to be maintained. In 2021, the average daily flow of people in Yiwu International Trade City is 122,400 people, the average daily opening rate is 93%, and the rental rate of commercial space remains above 98%, which is relatively stable overall.
As a "barometer" of foreign trade, Yiwu completed exports of 365.92 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of 21.7%; imports of 24.39 billion yuan, an increase of 95.3%; entrepot trade increased by 6 times; market flow of people and peripheral capital flow increased by 18.2% and 25% respectively; Yixin Europe China-Europe express trains opened 1277 trains, an increase of 31.1%; express delivery business volume increased by 29.5%, with a total of 9.29 billion pieces.
However, rising raw material prices, structural imbalances in international capacity, and shortages of important components such as chips will continue to exist.
Li Xingqian, director of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, said at a press conference held by the State Council's new office on January 25 that on the basis of last year's 6.05 trillion US dollars and 30 percent rapid growth, the foreign trade situation this year is very grim, and the difficulties and pressures of steady growth are unprecedented. The comprehensive cost of China's foreign trade enterprises, especially small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises, has risen significantly, and the operational risks and pressures are at a high level. (The pictures in the article are taken by the reporter of this article)