The parcels will then be exported by train via the China-Europe Railway Express, as shown in a video shared with the Global Times by Wang Dong, a Guangzhou-based logistics agent.
«We didn’t stop working even during the New Year’s Day holidays so that our warehouse wouldn’t run out of space. We now only have room for one container on our freight train to Germany in early January and bookings for China-Europe freight trains are almost full until early March,» Wang told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Wang was among thousands of Chinese foreign traders who experienced a busy start to the new year.
Many people used the holiday break to buy new products for their pets. The number of product inquiries was large, and the livestream salesroom was watched by many people, Zhu Qiucheng, CEO of Ningbo New Oriental Electric Industrial Development, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Zhu said that his company will focus more on livestream sales in 2024, which will be an important channel to explore international markets.
According to statistics from Alibaba sent to the Global Times, since 2023, the number of overseas buyers watching cross-border livestreaming has increased by 127 percent year-on-year, and the growth of business opportunities for Chinese foreign trade merchants has been as high as 156 percent.
Chinese exporters are also flying abroad to seek customers. For example, Zhao Lei, owner of Lianyungang-based King Garden Paper & Plastic Products Co, will soon visit overseas customers in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Australia to expand cooperation.
«Workers are rushing to produce products such as corrugated cups that will be sold to markets in Europe, the US and Southeast Asia. The disposable paper products we produced during the New Year’s Day holidays were for orders signed at the Canton Fair in October, and we have a short time left,» said Zhao.
Exporters and analysts said that with the active exploration of these foreign trade enterprises and the all-around support of policies, China’s foreign trade is expected to continue to withstand the pressure of declining global demand, overcome the impact of falling prices and a relatively high base, and show strong resilience in 2024.
China has 811 products ranking first in global exports in terms of scale, and its trade competitiveness is strong in mechanical and electrical equipment, organic chemicals and other fields, media reports said.
The main exports from China are changing from traditional commodities, such as clothing and furniture, to the «new three» products — new-energy vehicles, lithium batteries and solar batteries, Lian Ping, president of China Chief Economist Forum and vice president of the Shanghai Economist Association, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Now the world is intensifying its attention to green and low-carbon development, and China has a greater advantage in the supply of the «new three» products, which means large room for export growth, said Lian.
«Looking ahead to 2024, we should not only see the uncertainty and instability of the external environment, but also see the accumulation of favorable conditions for the development of China’s economy and foreign trade,» He Yadong, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, said on December 28 during a regular press conference.
He noted that the world economy is still in the process of a difficult recovery, and global trade is picking up slowly, which is shown by the estimate of UNCTAD — a 5 percent year-on-year decline of global trade in 2023.
The organization estimated that global trade in the year 2024 will be «highly uncertain and generally pessimistic.»
