- From Jan. to Nov. this year, Chongqing’s total foreign trade value reached RMB 525.36 billion, a year-on-year growth of 10.6%. When the global economic slowdown continues, what makes Chongqing’s international trade result so excellent?
Reason 1: Benefiting from foreign investment
According to the Chongqing Municipal Commerce Commission, the city’s foreign investment in actual use has been tens of billions of US dollars for eight successive years. In 2018, the foreign investment in actual use was USD 10.27 billion, growing by 17.6 times from the USD 550 million reached when Chongqing was a new municipality.
Foreign-invested enterprises, targeting the global market, have realized self-development and stimulated the import and export of Chongqing.
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Based on the Joint Annual Report on Investment and Operation Information of Foreign-invested Enterprises in 2018, the total export-import volume contributed by foreign-invested enterprises is RMB 294.97 billion, 56.5% of the city’s total, marking that these players have become essential supporters for Chongqing’s foreign trade sector.
This year, Chongqing’s foreign investment in actual use has continued to go up, and the total of the first three quarters is USD 6.547 billion, a year-on-year growth of 3.11%. Therefore, Chongqing’s export and import trade have developed accordingly. From Jan. to Nov., the import and export volume of its foreign-invested enterprises grew to RMB 304.47 billion, an increase of 13.7%, and accounts for 58% of Chongqing’s total.
Reason 2: Stimulated by ILSTC
The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC), by integrating the multi-modal transportation mode, including railway, road, waterway, and aviation, stretches from Chongqing, reaches southward to provinces like Guizhou and coastal and border ports such as Beibu Gulf in Guangxi, and ends at Singapore and major logistics nodes in ASEAN countries. The time cost by this means is about ten days less than that by sea from China’s eastern regions.
From the Port and Logistics Office of Chongqing Municipal People’s Government, with the construction of the ILSTC, it will further facilitate the trade between Chongqing and Southeast Asia region.
By this November 30, 831 land-sea trains for the ILSTC have launched, a year-on-year rise of 85%. They carried a total of around 41,000 TEUs, with a total cargo value of roughly RMB 5.6 billion. Among them, 65 trains via the international railway transport were put into service, a year-on-year growth of 103%; 1,094 cross-border highway regular lorries have launched, increasing by 110% on a year-on-year basis.
The above-listed data suggests an intensified trade exchange between Chongqing and the ASEAN countries. Amid this trend, from Jan. to Nov. this year, the total trade volume of Chongqing and the ASEAN surged to RMB 9.74 billion, growing by 39.9% and representing 18.5% of the total of Chongqing.
Reason 3: Driven by brilliant intelligent manufacturing
In 2018, smart terminals became the top locomotive driving Chongqing’s export. The export volume of these products reached RMB 247.76 billion, and the increase rate is 14.7%. The volume of smart terminals transported by China-Europe freight trains and international aviation accounts for 40% and 90%, respectively, of the total, signifying that smart terminals have become the leading export product of Chongqing.
From Jan. to Nov. this year, the export of laptops, smart terminals, integrated circuits, and other electronic information products in Chongqing totaled RMB 243.44 billion, up 18.3%. The export volume accounts for 72% of the city’s total, increasing by 4.8 percentage points.
Kuang Jian, Chief Engineer of Chongqing Economy and Information Commission, attributed this remarkable development to the intensified efforts of Chongqing-based intelligent manufacturers in new projects.
He Zhixun, Director of Administration Department of Wistron Infocomm (Chongqing) Co., Ltd., expressed that Wistron’s plants in Chongqing had optimized and improved the production process via intelligent robots and digital workshops this year. It also has a layout in new products for the medical, artificial intelligence, and other fields.
From a director of Chongqing BOE Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., the production line for the sixth version of AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) is under construction and expected to be put into service in 2021. Then, it will offer AMOLED-based products to mobile phones, car devices, and foldable laptops.
According to Kuang Jian, next, Chongqing will promote the deep integration of big data, artificial intelligence, and manufacturing enterprises and strive to build a large-scale development pattern involving a wide range of products and the whole industry chain, thus forming the world’s most extensive production base of intelligent terminals.