Foreign trade is an important engine driving economic growth, but since the beginning of this year, global market consumption has been weak and demand has been sluggish. China's foreign trade has also encountered some setbacks, which has sparked market concerns about foreign trade. Data shows that in the first seven months, China's total import and export volume increased by 0.4% year-on-year, with exports increasing by 1.5%. Overall, it remained stable, but in July, exports decreased by 9.2%.

　　Recently, through some foreign trade and cross-border e-commerce exhibitions, as well as foreign trade enterprises, it has been discovered that the foreign trade field is playing a "song of ice and fire": on one hand, there are some enterprises with technological content and strong product innovation, whose scale and profits are constantly rising against the trend, and their business is particularly prosperous; On the other hand, enterprises that lack technological innovation, lack distinctive products, or are not essential are experiencing a cold winter of foreign trade, with a significant reduction in orders.

　　From the perspective of many analysts, although China's exports have encountered certain setbacks, this is mainly due to the impact of the global economic downturn. Despite facing many difficulties, China has a complete industrial system, sufficient supply capacity, and strong foreign trade resilience. Especially many enterprises with strong innovation capabilities are using innovation to create new starting points and advantages for China's foreign trade.

　　Weak overseas demand

　　Our customers are mainly Amazon sellers, and our orders have been much lower this year. Global consumption is too sluggish, and overseas consumers don't have much money in their hands. Our product is a mechanical keyboard, and as long as it's not broken, they won't replace it now. Moreover, the market is so big now, and everyone is competing in stock, with prices being fiercely competitive, resulting in even lower profits. At a recent cross-border e-commerce exhibition in Shenzhen, A person from a keyboard manufacturing company admitted that the foreign trade industry in the first half of this year was very difficult.

　　In fact, not only are peers pressuring prices, but some sellers on cross-border e-commerce platforms are also trying to find the "best low-priced products". A Shopee seller from Shenzhen said, "Nowadays, the global economy is not very prosperous, and everyone wants to split a dollar into two. We mainly focus on the Southeast Asian market, which is characterized by not having high unit prices. When we come to the exhibition to select products, we also hope to find innovative and high-quality products that are cost-effective, otherwise it will be difficult for us to sell in the Southeast Asian market

　　And another manufacturer that specializes in creative starry sky lights is even more bitter: Our products start at a factory price of 90 or 100 yuan, with slightly better products priced at over 200 yuan. The global economic situation is poor, and sellers from both Amazon and Shopee rarely come to us for goods because they cannot sell products at such high prices. Although the cost of 100 yuan may not be significant, it also includes transportation costs, platform advertising costs, etc. The platform's selling price will at least double, even for customers in Europe and America You can't just pay for 'good looks and fun'

　　Regarding the current situation of foreign trade exports this year, Lin Wensheng, Executive Vice President of the Shenzhen Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export, stated that in terms of the export commodity structure in the southern China market alone, electronic consumer goods have experienced a significant decline. Due to weak global consumption, demand has decreased. South China is relatively mature in the electronic consumer goods market, especially in mechanical and electrical products, with a significant decline. However, the overall data in South China is relatively stable, thanks to the export sales of the new three types of products - automobiles, photovoltaics, lithium batteries, and so on.

　　In addition, Lin Wensheng stated that from the perspective of traditional products, due to the impact of trade frictions on foreign-invested enterprises, major brand merchants are required to transfer their supply chains to Vietnam and India. Currently, there are also initial results and some driving effects have been formed. Large manufacturers have driven some suppliers, so companies that provide support for these brands have also visited Vietnam, India, and Mexico for research. The decline in this area is about 20%, which has a significant impact on the overall volume

　　Relying on innovation to survive the cold winter

　　It should be noted that in the context of global economic weakness, the decline in exports is not only affecting China, but also Vietnam, South Korea, and other countries. According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Resources of South Korea, in July 2023, the export volume of goods from South Korea decreased by 16.5% year-on-year to 50.3 billion US dollars, marking the 10th consecutive month of negative growth; According to Vietnamese customs statistics, in the first half of 2023, Vietnam's cumulative exports of goods amounted to $164.68 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 12%.

　　In the current situation, although most enterprises are experiencing a cold winter of exports, there are also some enterprises that consistently adhere to innovation and are setting new highs against the trend. Recently, it was learned through research on a company that is planning to go public that its revenue growth is expected to exceed 50% in the first half of this year. There are two reasons for achieving such success: firstly, the company has been continuously binding with major customers for many years, gaining high trust from them through continuous product updates, design, and stable quality control; Secondly, the market space in the segmented field where the enterprise is located is still enormous.

　　From data statistics, it can be seen that the overall scale of the e-commerce market in Europe and the United States is considerable, constrained by multiple factors such as inflation and rising living costs. In the future, e-commerce in Europe and the United States will face certain growth resistance, and there will not be a significant reduction trend. According to data obtained from the DiSifang platform, thanks to the multi platform strategy, the US market has shown significant year-on-year growth, while Europe remains flat. In Asia, the South Korean market has shown a rapid rise trend. In June Dian Sifang has added a new Weihai warehouse, with existing services such as direct shipping, consolidation, and mainline handover. It is responsible for collecting and transferring goods exported to South Korea nationwide. The average daily order volume in August was nearly 100000, greatly improving the shopping efficiency of cross-border Korean consumers Wang Yujian said.

　　Kangguan Technology also stated that in the first half of 2023, the company's innovative product shipments increased by 127.12% year-on-year. Compared to traditional products, innovative products can better meet the diverse needs of consumers, so there is currently a certain potential for development. In recent years, the company has increased its research and development efforts on innovative products to address market demand pain points, and it appears to have achieved certain results. Innovative display products not only meet the pain points of user needs, but also combine with the company's differentiated marketing strategy, achieving significant growth.

　　In addition, Best's turbocharger core components business benefited from the continuous increase in the penetration rate of fuel vehicle turbochargers and the rapid growth in sales of hybrid and extended range power vehicles. In the first half of 2023, the company's turbocharger core components business achieved a revenue of 480 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.61%. Among them, in the first half of 2023, the company's export business achieved a revenue of 260 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.09%, accounting for approximately 41.27% of the total revenue in the first half of the year.

　　Strong resilience in foreign trade

　　Although the current foreign trade situation is very severe, we believe that relying on China's strong supply chain system and improved supporting facilities, Made in China remains the product with the highest cost-effectiveness and best quality control, and overseas markets cannot do without Made in China. Currently, 90% of our sales are in overseas markets, and overseas customers are still optimistic about our products, with a significant increase in orders, For the so-called "decoupling and chain breaking" in his view, it is not realistic, and like China, there is only one country with huge manufacturing capabilities.

　　In fact, since the beginning of this year, although foreign trade enterprises have faced tremendous pressure, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, facing greater risks, the growth prospects of some leading enterprises are still considerable. Like BYD, the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies in the first half of the year was 10.5 billion to 11.7 billion yuan, an increase of 192.05% to 225.43% compared to the same period last year.

　　Lin Wensheng believes that leading enterprises should play a leading role in this regard. In the past, the prosperity of foreign trade was also driven by leading enterprises, who could drive the development of the entire industry chain, thereby reducing costs and enabling enterprises to go global. The mobile phone industry in the past was a typical example. Today, our automotive industry can also develop along this path. Leading companies such as BYD are driving the globalization of the industry chain, but there are now trade and technology frictions, and the cycle is longer. However, this direction is correct. Europe is about to reach its carbon peak, and they will definitely need to use new energy equipment, which is our opportunity

       For small and medium-sized enterprises, firstly, they need to be more proactive in going out and seeking orders overseas. Secondly, they need to transform and explore the direction of branding. Technology needs to be upgraded, structure needs to be changed, and they need to boldly try new technologies and models. "Lin Wensheng admitted that many traditional foreign trade enterprises nowadays excessively rely on orders from foreign brands, doing simple processing trade and ODM (original design manufacturers), But now many brand merchants require suppliers to either set up factories overseas or in related countries, and many traditional foreign trade enterprise bosses are elderly and in the process of second-generation succession, making it difficult to have the motivation to do so. However, in such a big environment, if we don't change, we will die. We must reorganize our team, change our mindset, actively innovate, and embrace elements such as the internet, new retail, cross-border e-commerce, and live streaming. As long as there is a good supply chain and technology, there will be opportunities.