Key Economic Province Plays Vital Role | Win-win Cooperation: Ningbo's Trade with CEEC Sees Steady Improvement

 

 

Ningbo has the first China-CEEC Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone in China. Facing the increasingly complex and severe external environment this year, this major foreign trade city is actively helping enterprises to strengthen trade exchanges with Central and Eastern Europe and optimize the "Central and Eastern European Goods Green Channel" to push bilateral cooperation to a higher level.

 

 

 

 

In early April, more than 40 foreign trade companies from Ningbo organized a delegation to Budapest, Hungary, to participate in the "China-Hungary Trade and Investment Matchmaking Conference" hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the two countries. The delegation members communicated with Hungarian companies and institutions of corresponding industry in the fields of manufacturing, services, medical health, green economy, agricultural food products, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lian Zhenyu, general manager of Ningbo Chsirga Metal Products Co., Ltd., said: "This experience has been very rewarding for me. And I had two guests who were very interested in the display of my products. I think the market in Hungary is promising and holds a great deal of business opportunities."

Zhejiang Portex Logistics Technology Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of the Provincial Seaport Group, mainly provides logistics services for foreign trade companies. Assistant General Manager Wang Lingjun went to Hungary to attend the conference this time, hoping to encourage more Central and Eastern European companies to understand and choose the "China-Europe Express" route from Ningbo Zhoushan Port directly to Europe. He said: "There are a lot of Hungarian companies here, and they have a very high demand for Chinese products. For certain fast procurement from China by local companies in Hungary, we have such service and products at Ningbo Zhoushan Port. "

 

 

 

 

At this matchmaking conference, more than 40 Ningbo companies contacted a total of 88 Hungarian companies, received import and export orders exceeding USD 5 million on site, and reached cooperation intentions for more than 10 projects. After the conference, some companies also conducted further research and exchanges by visiting the places of origin of Hungarian products, logistics parks, and exhibition centers.

In recent years, the Central and Eastern European market has developed rapidly. Since its establishment in 2018 as the first China-CEEC Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone in China, Ningbo has achieved an average annual growth rate of 17% in its total import and export value with Central and Eastern European countries. Ningbo companies such as Joyson Electronics, Minth Group, and Ningbo Tuopu Group Co., Ltd. have taken the lead to seize opportunities by setting up factories in Central and Eastern European countries.

 

 

 

 

Ningbo Corelead Optoelectronics Technology Co.,Ltd. mainly develops cutting-edge products such as high-end smart luminous mirrors and has built overseas factories in Serbia. General Manager Cao Hao said that establishing a production base in Serbia would not only allow the company to further penetrate the local market, but also to take a firm foothold in Central and Eastern Europe, enabling its products to reach the entire European market.

Cao Hao said: "We export the core components to Serbia first, assemble them in Serbia, and then distribute them throughout Europe, so that the order delivery cycle can be shortened by more than 25 days. In March of this year, our shipment volume reached an all-time high, with the largest order coming from Europe, valued at USD 5.5 million."

 

 

 

 

In order to help enterprises better expand into the Central and Eastern European markets, since the beginning of this year, Ningbo Customs has added 13 new channels for policy and information. It has also collected and published over 160 pieces of information, which include China-Central and Eastern European countries' customs policies, facilitation measures, technical and trade standards, and customs clearance guidelines.

Chen Bo, Director of Yinzhou Customs under Ningbo Customs, said: "We are continuing to strengthen the construction of the China-CEEC Customs Information Center, improving and upgrading the three functions of communication, consulting services, monitoring and early warning, providing forward-looking decision-making support for enterprises, helping them tap into the vast business potential in Central and Eastern Europe and secure more overseas orders. In terms of imports, we are also optimizing the Central and Eastern European Goods Green Channel. Since the beginning of this year, the accuracy rate of corporate declarations has increased to 98%, and the average overall customs clearance time for customs declaration forms has been shortened by 30%."

 

 

 

 

As Chen Bo said, in addition to helping companies tap into the vast business potential in Central and Eastern Europe and open up diversified international markets, Ningbo is also working hard to support the expansion of imports of high-quality resource commodities from Central and Eastern Europe and promote bilateral cooperation to a higher level.

Ningbo Jintian International Logistics Co., Ltd. recently imported 23 tons of refined copper from Poland. Under the guidance of customs, enterprises flexibly used facilitation measures such as "tariff guarantee insurance" and "difference guarantee" to successfully complete the guarantee release procedures. Zhou Xiang, the company's customs affairs director, said that this year they expect to import about 180,000 tons of refined copper and copper alloys from Central and Eastern European countries, an increase of more than 10% over last year. "In the past, our copper import guarantee amount was relatively high. In recent years, there have been more and more tax facilitation measures and customs clearance has become more and more convenient. Our copper business with Central and Eastern Europe is getting smoother and bigger. For example, we have trading partners in Central and Eastern European countries such as Poland and Romania."

 

 

 

 

The trading partners of Central and Eastern Europe will gather in Ningbo soon. From May 22 to 25, the 4th China-CEEC Expo will be held in Ningbo, including exhibitions, economic and trade negotiations, investment promotion and cultural exchanges. At the same time, a number of institutional activities such as the China-CEEC Customs Inspection and Quarantine Cooperation Dialogue will be held, striving to achieve a number of practical results and inject new impetus into the cooperation between China and CEECs.

 

 

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  Disclaimer：The above content is translated from Chinese version of China Blue News. The China Blue News version shall prevail.