Is the“Belt and Road”the way out for foreign trade enterprises in the post-pandemic era?

Relevant investigations show that thousands of domestic foreign trade enterprises have been forced to postpone shipments and foreign exchange collection， and even some orders have been transferred. Every year from March to May is the peak period for export orders， but many foreign trade companies have seen new orders decline to varying degrees， and logistics congestion points have also changed from domestic to international. Many ports in Europe and the United States have been closed， and routes have been grounded， air transport capacity has been reduced by half， and costs have increased substantially. Some high-tech middleware and new materials face the risk of supply cuts， and the pressure on the foreign trade industry has doubled.

“Belt and Road” trade cooperation is resilient

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on import and export trade has been clearly seen in the data released by the General Administration of Customs a few days ago. In the first two months of this year， Chinas foreign trade declined significantly. In terms of U.S. dollars， total imports and exports fell by 11% year-on-year， and exports fell by 17.2%.

But at the same time， the total trade volume between China and the countries along the “Belt and Road” has increased by 0.4%. The proportion of Chinas total foreign trade reached 31.7%， 3.6 percentage points higher than the same period last year， and it has become a rare highlight of foreign trade under the pandemic.

In addition， the Ministry of Commerce announced in late February that the overall progress of the “Belt and Road” cooperation project has been stable， and there have been no large-scale delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a set of data released by China State Railway Group Co.， Ltd. on April 3， China Railway Express opened a total of 1，941 trains and sent 174，000 TEUs in the first quarter， an increase of 15% and 18% year-on-year， respectively， and the comprehensive heavy container rate reached 98.1%. The delivery volume has grown steadily. The smooth flow of the “Belt and Road”trade shows the strong vitality of Chinas economy and injects confidence and momentum into the recovery of foreign trade companies.

Focusing on the “Belt and Road”， all regions help recovery of foreign trade

Foreign trade is a frontier position for China to open to the outside world， an important way to promote economic globalization， and an important link to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation. After the pandemic occurred， in order to reduce the negative impact of the pandemic on foreign trade， the Ministry of Commerce， Ministry of Industry and Information Technology， Central Bank， Customs， CCPIT and other departments have introduced support policies. Guangdong， Zhejiang， Henan， Gansu， Jiangsu， Shandong， Shaanxi， Heilongjiang， Guangxi， Jiangxi and other places have also introduced specific measures to help foreign trade enterprises get out of the predicament. Recently， in the“Belt and Road” work plans that have been issued successively in various places， steady foreign trade is also the focus of its attention.

At the beginning of the pandemic， the “Belt and Road” foreign trade grew against the trend. In the current pandemic situation， “Belt and Road” cooperation has become an important force for foreign trade in various regions. It is believed that the “Belt and Road” trade cooperation will bring more opportunities and possibilities for the recovery of foreign trade enterprises.