With the introduction of the "new ten articles" on epidemic prevention and control, China has truly entered the post-epidemic era, and economic growth has become a top priority everywhere. According to the incomplete statistics of China Trade News, as of press time, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hubei, Sichuan, Hainan, Guizhou and other provinces (regions and cities) have organized foreign trade enterprises to go to Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Japan and other places to actively seek overseas business opportunities and expand international order resources.

The latest import and export trade data released by the General Administration of Customs on December 7 showed that in the first 11 months of this year, the total value of China's imports and exports was 38.34 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.6% over the same period last year. However, it should also be noted that in November, the total value of China's imports and exports was 3.7 trillion yuan, a slight increase of 0.1% year-on-year, a significant slowdown from 6.9% in October and a record low since May this year. Among them, exports were 2.1 trillion yuan, up 0.9% year-on-year, while imports were 1.6 trillion yuan, down 1.1%.

A number of foreign trade enterprises also reflected to reporters the sharp decline in foreign trade orders at the end of the year. "Compared with Christmas orders in previous years, this year's orders have seen a decrease in both volume and price." A toy manufacturer in Guangdong told reporters.

In addition, according to the latest manufacturing PMI data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in November, from the demand side, the new orders index was 46.4%, down 1.7 percentage points from the previous month. Among them, the new export orders index was 46.7%, down 0.9 percentage points from the previous month, with domestic and international market demand in the manufacturing sector falling back.

China Council for the Promotion of International Trade spokesman, Secretary General of the China Chamber of Commerce Sun Xiao said at a regular press conference in November, China's foreign trade enterprises are facing multiple challenges such as weakening external demand, rising costs and increasing risks, the problem of insufficient orders is particularly prominent, into the fourth quarter, foreign trade imports and exports under further pressure.

The foreign trade situation is not optimistic, so many enterprises are on pins and needles. In the current economic situation, it seems that "confidence" is more important than "gold". Just last week, the Central Political Bureau held a meeting to analyse and study the economic work in 2023. In particular, it mentioned key words such as "boosting market confidence", "stable growth, stable employment and stable prices" and "overall improvement in economic performance". This has set the tone for the economic work in 2023. The group went overseas to grab orders, and various places stepped up their investment promotion activities, etc. Not only did they put a full stop to the stable economy in 2022, but also gave a good start to the economic development in 2023.

"One meeting is worth millions of letters to and from", is a popular saying in the foreign trade industry. Indeed, after the meeting between supply and demand, not only can we learn about the market situation, customers' needs, sales difficulties and after-sales services, but more importantly, it is conducive to building a relationship of mutual trust.

From the current effect of the first, the local government agencies and well-known enterprises grouped together to "go to sea", but also naturally more to get the trust and support of foreign investors. For example, from November 17-23, Suzhou City organised a charter service to Japan, consisting of 12 investment teams and 51 executives from foreign trade enterprises. The investment teams visited a total of 62 enterprises and related institutions, reaching a total of 32 investment projects with Japanese businessmen, with an intended investment amount of US$1.86 billion; foreign trade enterprises visited more than 200 Japanese customers, securing orders of over RMB 1 billion. The amount of orders received exceeded 1 billion yuan. After the effective visit to Japan, in order to further develop the European market, recently the Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce also continued to organize a chartered service to Europe, such visits have continued until the 18th of this month. It is reported that the visit to Europe, the plan and Siemens, Knorr-Bremse, Fafo, Kaihui Fund and other Fortune 500, global industry head enterprises, well-known international financial institutions to carry out communication and exchange, and in France, Germany held a series of special promotional meetings.

"To snatch back the lost orders!" The economic and trade missions that travelled around the world with determination and confidence to "grab orders" also conveyed to the outside world the vivid vitality and resilience of China's economic recovery.

It is not only the government that helps enterprises to "sing" and "set up the stage". In order to cooperate with local governments in organising groups to "grab orders", Alibaba's cross-border e-commerce platform, Ali International, has launched a special campaign to launch at least 100 "digital hybrid" overseas exhibitions covering the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore It will cover more than 10 important foreign trade target markets, including the US, Germany, UK, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Turkey, India, Brazil and Dubai. The 100 digital overseas exhibitions include the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the Tokyo Grocery Show in Japan, the Munich Solar PV Show in Germany, the Hannover Messe in Germany, the International Building Materials Show in Turkey, the International Auto Parts and After Sales Show in Birmingham, and other famous overseas offline exhibitions, covering sports, apparel, consumer electronics, new energy, building materials, auto parts, machinery and other The exhibition covers sports, apparel, consumer electronics, new energy, building materials, auto parts, machinery and other categories.

Bai Ming, deputy director of the International Market Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with this reporter that face-to-face emotional communication is more conducive to building trust, not to mention that some goods must be "seen to be believed'", such as the function of massage chairs, the taste of food, etc. must have personal experience in order to decisively Order. The current economic downtrend in Europe and the United States is becoming more and more obvious, China's foreign trade pressure is very large, to seize the opportunity. At the same time, the recent optimization and adjustment of the domestic epidemic prevention and control measures, making the conditions for going out have.

Relevant experts said that the group around the sea to grab orders, in addition to retrieve the previously lost time and orders, but also to enhance the confidence of foreign investors in China's enterprises and even economic development, but also released the signal of foreign trade rebound. The next step is for the local government to organize economic and trade missions to "go out", and should continue to understand the needs of enterprises; at the same time, it should also play the power of social organizations, so that more industry associations, chambers of commerce and other further follow-up.