Three growth curves outline the path for Shandong's foreign trade to break through
Shandong's foreign trade has achieved a total import and export of 2.89 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%, with a growth rate 1.1 percentage points higher than the national average... Shandong's foreign trade has submitted its performance report for the first 10 months.
From the perspective of data, electronic components, automobile exports and trade with countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" constitute three highlights of Shandong's response to many changes in the current international trade environment.
Automobile exports achieve 'multi-point flowering'
With the development of the new generation of energy and automotive technology revolution, electric vehicles are receiving increasing attention from consumers worldwide. The Global Electric Vehicle Outlook 2025 report released by the International Energy Agency in May this year shows that global electric vehicle sales will reach 17 million units in 2024, accounting for 20% of the global automotive market for the first time. The annual sales volume is expected to exceed 20 million vehicles in 2025, accounting for over a quarter of the total new car sales.
The report also mentioned that China's electric vehicle production accounts for 70% of the global electric vehicle production, and by 2024, China's electric vehicle exports will account for 40% of the global total, including the presence of Shandong enterprises.
On the fully automated assembly line in the workshop of Beijing Automotive Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Qingdao Branch, a brand new electric vehicle is produced every 90 seconds on average. Hou Chao, Director of the Manufacturing Center of the company, introduced that relying on independent research and innovation, the company has established cooperation with markets in more than 30 countries and regions. In the first ten months of this year, the export of electric vehicles increased by 187% year-on-year. Since the beginning of this year, we have successfully expanded into emerging markets such as Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Arabia. Currently, the overseas order schedule has reached the first quarter of next year, and multiple production lines are operating at full capacity, "said Hou Chao.
In the first 10 months of this year, Shandong's automobile exports reached 53.22 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%. Among them, the export of electric vehicles increased by 117.4% year-on-year.
Zhang Zhiyong, Deputy Director of the Statistical Analysis Department of Qingdao Customs, introduced that in the first 10 months of this year, the export of commercial vehicles in the province reached 43.85 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.8%. Among them, trucks amounted to 18.6 billion yuan, an increase of 43.2%; Bus revenue was 3.99 billion yuan, an increase of 42.3%; Special purpose vehicles reached 3.67 billion yuan, an increase of 35.7%, showing a trend of "multi-point flowering". Shandong's automotive industry is accelerating its rise in the global market.
Component manufacturing enterprises seize the future industry
On average, one smart sensor is manufactured every 0.1 seconds in the production workshop of GoerTek Microelectronics Co., Ltd. This is the acoustic sensor product we produce, which is the core component for smartphones to achieve call functions. Its most important component is the chip, and only two or three companies in the world can produce such high-end chips. We are currently at the forefront of global technology and production capacity, "said Zhang Min, head of the Operations Management Department of GoerTek Microelectronics Co., Ltd.
The electronic component manufacturing industry is one of the core pillars of modern industry. In recent years, with the development of strategic emerging industries such as 5G communication, artificial intelligence, new energy vehicles, and industrial Internet, the pattern of global electronic components industry and supply chain is accelerating its evolution. It can be said that in the field of international trade, whoever catches the "fast train" of global electronic components development and transformation at this time will have more initiative in the future international trade competition.
In recent years, focusing on promoting the development of new generation information technology such as electronic components, Shandong has deeply carried out the "number one project" of industrial economy, integrated the industrial chain through the "chain length system", and cultivated a group of influential new generation information technology enterprises in the national and global markets. In the first 10 months of this year's Shandong foreign trade data, the export of mechanical and electrical products reached 858.37 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.1%, accounting for 48.8% of the total export value, almost carrying the "half of Shandong's foreign trade exports". Among them, electronic components have performed remarkably well with a growth rate of over 20%, and more Shandong enterprises like GoerTek are stepping up their efforts to seize this "future track" of global trade.
Jointly build the "the Belt and Road" national market and become the largest foreign trade market
In recent years, international trade has shown a trend of continuous major events, disputes, and increased complexity and difficulty. Especially in traditional trade markets such as the United States and the European Union, there is a clear phenomenon of rising protectionism and unilateralism.
Against this external background, the Report on China's "the Belt and Road" Trade and Investment Development 2024-2025 issued by the Research Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce in September this year pointed out that although the current global economy is encountering many uncertainties, the resilience of China's property supply chain with the countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" continues to emerge. The report also points out that in 2024, countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" will contribute 67.8% to China's foreign trade growth, and the scale of trade in goods will exceed half of China's total trade in goods for the first time.
As a major foreign trade province, Shandong has continued to tap the market potential of jointly building the "the Belt and Road" countries in recent years. In the first 10 months of this year, Shandong's import and export to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" reached 1.85 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.4%, accounting for 64.2% of the province's foreign trade. This market has become the largest market for stabilizing foreign trade in the province.
Taking trade with Africa as an example, at Yantai Port in Shandong Province, there are an average of 2-3 cargo ships shuttling between China and Africa every week, transporting China's machinery and equipment, building materials, and other goods to African countries, as well as African minerals, agricultural products, and other goods back to China. According to data from Yantai Customs, the average annual growth rate of China Africa liner freight volume at Yantai Port has reached 117% in the past three years.
The China Africa shipping route precisely meets the economic construction needs of African countries, and has built a transportation network covering more than 20 countries and regions, achieving full coverage of non coastal countries. The exported goods include 200 types of wind power equipment, engineering building materials, machinery and vehicles, "said Li Jun, Deputy Director of the Production Dispatch Center of Yantai Port in Shandong Province.
Gu Chuntai, a researcher at Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, stated that global unilateralism and protectionism are intensifying, and tariff barriers will continue to increase. Looking towards the fourth quarter and next year, Shandong needs to make efforts in actively expanding effective demand within the region, proactively aligning with international high standard economic and trade rules, and comprehensively rectifying "internal competition". (Reporter Sun Yuanze)
Information source: Dazhong Daily
