Hard work brings early spring. As the festive spirit of the Spring Festival lingers, foreign trade enterprises have entered "busy mode" across factory workshops, port terminals, land border crossings, and China-Europe Railway Express routes. A thriving scene of foreign trade import and export is unfolding, and the determined efforts seen across regions at the start of the year signal a promising outlook for foreign trade in the year ahead.
In Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, the shipyard of CSSC Shipyard Co. Ltd. is busy yet orderly. In the dock, a large bulk carrier with a striking black and red design under construction stands out. This is the second foreign trade vessel being built at the company's headquarters this year. Complying with the latest green, environmental, and energy-saving standards, this series of ships is highly sought after in the international market, with delivery to the Greek shipowner expected in April.
Based on this green and eco-friendly bulk carrier, the company is not only receiving new orders but also vigorously advancing the transformation and upgrading of its shipbuilding products. It is focusing on strengthening and expanding newly developed eco-friendly ship models, such as the 50,000-ton oil tanker and the 41,800-ton self-unloading vessel. To ensure smooth "sea voyages," Jiangyin Customs, under Nanjing Customs, is closely following the development pace of the shipbuilding industry’s new quality productive forces. It has established green channels for boarding inspections and material supply, working tirelessly to facilitate the "last mile" for ships' international voyages.
The "strategic asset" is ready to go global, and the "small but exquisite" consumer goods for people's livelihood are also capturing the world's attention. In the intelligent production workshop of a hat-making enterprise in Jiangsu, full-automatic cutting machines are precisely cutting fabrics at a frequency of 120 meters per minute, while laser embroidery machines intricately design exquisite patterns on the brims of hats.The continuous deepening of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has brought tangible benefits to enterprises. With the implementation of the fourth round of tariff reduction in the Japanese market, the product tariff has been reduced from 3.2% to 2% in a stepwise manner, and will eventually reach zero tariff in the future. The savings from tariff reductions per hat translate into price advantage and market competitiveness. In January 2025 alone, the enterprise's export trade volume to Japan exceeded RMB 3.29 million, with 30 RCEP certificates of origin applied for, marking an 87.5% year-on-year increase.
Recently, with the sound of a loud whistle, a China-Europe Railway Express carrying 100 TEUs departed from Suzhou West Railway Station under the supervision of Suzhou Customs, a branch of Nanjing Customs, heading towards Central Asia. This train primarily carried major appliances, machinery products, and daily necessities, marking the first China-Europe Railway Express departing from Suzhou in the Year of the Snake.
The "Steel camel fleets" set off fully loaded, with trains brimming with "Made in Jiangsu" products rolling along the tracks towards distant destinations. Stable railway logistics have broadened the channels for enterprises to expand overseas. In January this year, Jiangsu's international freight trains carried a total of 16,010 TEUs, with 195 trains dispatched. Among them, the number of trains heading towards Central Asia reached 96, marking a year-on-year increase of 38.7%.
As more "Made in China" products make their way abroad, a growing number of "popular overseas goods" are enriching the lives of people in China. In the Changzhou Comprehensive Bonded Zone in Jiangsu, the intelligent sorting system operates at high speed, with batches of cross-border parcels lining up, ready to be sent nationwide. On the customs CT scanner equipment's display screen, 3D images of goods are rapidly formed, vividly illustrating the flourishing development of the cross-border e-commerce industry.
As the world's largest trading country in goods, an average of approximately RMB 120 billion worth of goods flow between China and the world every day. Data show that in January this year, the container throughput of Shanghai Port exceeded 5 million TEUs, hitting a monthly record high. This achievement not only refreshed the record held by Shanghai Port itself, but also made it the first port in the world to surpass 5 million TEUs in a single month; Meanwhile, Shenzhen Port's foreign trade container throughput reached 2.853 million TEUs in January, an increase of 15.5% over the same period last year, with an optimized cargo structure, marking a successful start to the year...The continuously updated data from China's ocean ports vividly reflects the dynamic growth of the country's foreign trade imports and exports.
In 2024, China's export scale exceeded RMB 25 trillion for the first time and reached RMB 25.45 trillion, with a year-on-year increase of 7.1%. It has maintained growth for 8 consecutive years, showing strong momentum and vitality. In 2025, the external environment will be more complex, with increasing uncertainties and instability. The rising influence of geopolitics, unilateralism, and protectionism presents significant challenges to maintaining stable growth in foreign trade.
To promote steady growth and quality improvement in foreign trade, local governments and relevant departments respond to the expectations of enterprises in a timely manner, ensuring that policy dividends benefit more businesses and help foreign trade enterprises move forward and thrive. According to the newly released government work reports,"stabilizing foreign trade" has become a high-frequency term in 2025, accompanied by "high-quality development." Policies aimed at stabilizing foreign trade continue to provide greater support for enterprise innovation and upgrading, as well as expanding international markets. The new momentum in foreign trade is being rapidly unleashed, with the pace of greening and digitalization accelerating.
In 2025, China will further intensify policies to stabilize foreign trade. While strengthening support for foreign trade enterprises in various aspects such as finance, banking and business environment, independent opening-up and unilateral opening-up will be promoted in an orderly manner. Pilot free trade zones will be further improved for greater efficiency, and emerging trade sectors such as service trade, green trade, and digital trade will have significant room for development.
"The Customs will take proactive steps to enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of policy supply, and better transform positive factors and favorable conditions into the high-quality development of foreign trade," said Sun Meijun, Minister of GACC. He emphasized the importance of implementing measures to promote stable growth in foreign trade, increasing the implementation and effectiveness evaluation of the 16 customs support measures, deepening tax policy research, and improving tax policies. The AEO (Authorized Economic Operator) benefits list will be extended, and mechanisms such as "Customs Directors delivering policies directly" and "one-on-one" customs-enterprise coordinators will be utilized to strengthen the connection and cooperation between Customs and enterprises, amplifying the effects of policy combinations. Special customs measures will be introduced to promote foreign trade and stabilize growth, helping enterprises expand exports and maintain market share.
According to Meng Yue, head of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, in 2024, the Ministry of Commerce introduced a series of measures, including the "Several Policies and Measures to Promote Stable Growth in Foreign Trade." This year, efforts will focus on accelerating the implementation of these policies, collaborating with local governments and various departments to ensure effective policy enforcement. The Ministry will promote successful experiences and practices, assist foreign trade enterprises in stabilizing orders, resolve bottlenecks and challenges, and support the steady development of foreign trade. In line with the trend of trade digitalization, the Ministry will expand the application of electronic trade documents and encourage the digital development of the entire trade chain. Additionally, the Ministry will enhance services for enterprises, continue hosting specialized training on green trade, cross-border e-commerce, and other areas, and strengthen the overall development capabilities of foreign trade enterprises.
Disclaimer：The above content is translated from Chinese version of Guangming Daily. The Guangming Daily version shall prevail.