A view of a shopping mall in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei Province File photo: VCG
Update: China’s Ministry of Commerce is stepping up efforts to promote the integration of domestic and foreign trade, assisting foreign trade enterprises in expanding domestic sales. It will guide industry associations, key supermarkets, and e-commerce platforms to leverage their market advantages, channel advantages, and brand advantages, collaborating with foreign trade enterprises to overcome challenges together, China Media Group (CMG) reported on Friday.
Starting from May 1, JD.com will invest 200 billion yuan ($27.34 billion) in large-scale procurement of products that shift from export-oriented goods to domestic sales, in order to accelerate the construction of a self-operated system for transitioning exports to the domestic market.
In addition, over 10 e-commerce platforms including Alibaba, Hema Fresh and Vipshop announced that they will leverage their advantages to implement eight key initiatives including providing dedicated foreign trade zones and green channels, aiming to deliver high-quality foreign trade products to households nationwide with the speed of e-commerce efficiency, according to the report.
Earlier on Friday, seven Chinese industry associations including the China General Chamber of Commerce, China Chain Store & Franchise Association, China Commerce Association for General Merchandise, and China Cuisine Association jointly issued an initiative to promote the integration of domestic and foreign trade and expand the domestic market, CMG reported on Friday.
The initiative said that recently, the US government has wielded tariffs as a weapon to implement extreme pressure and pursue self-interest, which severely violates the legitimate rights and interests of all nations, contravenes WTO rules, undermines the rule-based multilateral trading system, disrupts the global economic order, harms the interests of enterprises and consumers, and destabilizes global industrial and supply chains.
Such hegemonic and bullying behavior should be severely condemned, and we firmly support all the countermeasures taken by the Chinese government to safeguard national interests and the rights and interests of enterprises. At present, expanding the domestic market, promoting the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, and facilitating the shift of export-oriented goods to domestic sales have become an urgent priority, read the initiative.
In response to the difficulties of foreign trade enterprises whose domestic sales channels have not yet been fully established, commodity markets, department stores, supermarket chains, e-commerce platforms and other wholesale and retail enterprises should open green channels, set up special zones and counters for the domestic sale of foreign trade products, and organize exhibitions and sales activities for foreign trade products with quality, so as to provide a platform for the display and sale of foreign trade enterprises, according to the initiative.
Enterprises in the catering and hotel industries should give priority to purchasing standard-compliant equipment and facilities, foreign trade foodstuffs, tableware and drinking utensils, and hotel supplies, so as to broaden the domestic sales channels for foreign trade products.
In addition, the e-commerce and livestreaming industries should take measures to set up special zones for foreign trade commodities on platforms or promote sales by means of livestreaming. At the same time, enterprises are encouraged to take advantage of their own channels to carry out promotional activities integrating online and offline, so as to enhance the market awareness and sales for foreign trade products.
The industry associations will fully leverage their role as bridges and bonds, organizing supply-demand matching events and training sessions to help foreign trade enterprises understand domestic market demands and standards, thereby promoting product-market alignment. Wholesale and retail enterprises should optimize procurement mechanisms, prioritize the inclusion of foreign trade products in the domestic market, and provide channel and data support to assist foreign trade businesses in precisely aligning with domestic consumer needs, per the initiative.
At the same time, efforts should be made to provide services such as organizing market research, facilitating brand promotion, guiding product adaptation, and supporting domestic market-oriented product R&D for foreign trade enterprises, helping them better adapt to the domestic market.
Enterprises are encouraged to leverage new business formats and models such as exclusive stores, pop-up stores, multi-brand stores, e-commerce, and community group buying to expand domestic sales for foreign trade products. Additionally, high-quality foreign trade products should be promoted through exhibitions and sales in communities, government institutions, educational institutions, and transportation hubs, said the initiative.
Moreover, foreign trade enterprises are supported in collaborating with business circulation enterprises to jointly develop products tailored to the domestic market, cultivate self-owned brands, and enhance market competitiveness. Meanwhile, efforts should be made to encourage cooperation between foreign and domestic trade enterprises to share advantages, explore new business models and marketing strategies, in order to jointly expand the domestic market, optimize product structures, further improve resource allocation efficiency, and strengthen competitiveness. Through innovation in products and services, diversified and personalized needs of domestic consumers will be met, according to the initiative.
Global Times
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