Jiangsu's cranes and other import and export growth slowed down and stabilized external demand

“Actually, since the beginning of last October, the province’s import and export have shown a trend of slower growth,” said a professional person from the Provincial Department of Commerce.

In January, the nation’s imports and exports were the first two years of negative growth. According to the newly released data from Nanjing Customs, as a big province of foreign trade, the situation in Jiangsu is also not optimistic. The year-on-year decline is higher than the national average.

“Actually, since the beginning of last October, the province’s import and export have shown a trend of slower growth,” said a professional person from the Provincial Department of Commerce.

The downturn in exports was a direct result of weak external demand. As the largest foreign trade market in Jiangsu Province, many countries in the European Union have been stuck in a sovereign debt crisis and the economy is in a sluggish state. Importers place orders with caution. At the Canton Fair last fall, exhibitors in Jiangsu Province generally reported that European merchants attending the meeting had noticeably decreased. Even if they attended the meeting, they were watching more and placing fewer orders. In January of this year, the province’s imports and exports to the European Union reached US$ 6.52 billion and exported US$ 5.04 billion, which was a drop of more than other regions. Another factor is statistical caliber. The Spring Festival came early this year. The legal working day in January was only 17 days, which was 4 days less than the same period last year.

However, there are also bright colors in the "winter" trade. In January, the province’s exports to the United States amounted to US$4.85 billion, an increase of 4.5% over the same period last year; imports and exports to the Latin American and African markets were US$2.05 billion and US$860 million, respectively, with an increase of 13.6% and 19.3%, respectively. In terms of regional distribution, the northern Jiangsu region has accumulated a lot and has grown up. The five cities completed a total of 1.91 billion US dollars of imports and exports, an increase of 10.9%. Among them, Xuzhou is particularly prominent, with imports and exports increasing by 39% and exports increasing by as much as 64%. Xu Wei, deputy director of the Bureau of Commerce of Xuzhou City, analyzed that the main contributor to Xuzhou’s strong foreign trade breakthrough was Xugong Group. Last year, Xugong signed a $700 million large export contract for construction machinery such as cranes and road rollers to Venezuela, and exported 200 million U.S. dollars this month.

According to expert analysis, under the macroeconomic situation of increasing downward pressure on the world economy and increasing instability and uncertainty, it is very difficult for the situation of foreign trade and exports to fundamentally change in the short term. If we say that the international financial crisis that originated in the US subprime mortgage crisis has brought about a stormy impact, the immediate challenge is to “heat boiled frogs”, which is slow and slow. However, as a major driving force for stimulating economic growth, the role of exports in Jiangsu's “stability for progress” cannot be weakened. According to the provincial twelfth Party Congress and the just-concluded “two sessions” requirement of the province, exports must remain stable. The document No. 1 issued by the provincial government recently made a full deployment of further stabilizing the growth of foreign trade and promoting the transformation of foreign trade.

According to the deployment of the provincial party committee and the provincial government, a spring offensive against the steady external demand began to fully develop. At the beginning of March, the East China Export Commodities Fair will be held in Shanghai. Jiangsu Province has clearly defined the “one increase and one decrease” support policy. The participation subsidies will increase by 10% compared with the previous session, and the booth fee will decrease by 10%. The scale of the province’s participation will obviously expand. The Provincial Department of Commerce set out from the province's trade development strategy and carefully selected the exhibition. Japan is a major marketing market in Jiangsu Province and its customer channels are relatively stable. In May, Jiangsu Province will host the exhibition in Osaka, Japan, and will make it a major task to meet new customers and compete for better prices. Exhibitions such as the UK Offshore Wind Power Exhibition in the UK, the International Solar Energy Exhibition in the second half of the year, the Medical Exhibition in Brazil, and the International Trade Fair in South Africa have also been included in the province's key exhibitions. Exhibitors can receive 70-80% of subsidies.