7 northern foreign trade companies come to Hangzhou to compete in cross-border e-commerce full-chain digitalization to become the second growth curve

Full-link digitalization is becoming the second growth curve for small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises. On August 26 , the finals of the Alibaba International Station North Business Elite Competition were held in Hangzhou. After 60 days of strong competition , 7 representatives of the International Station Northern Foreign Trade Enterprises stood out from nearly 300 participating small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises and had the ultimate PK in Hangzhou . In the end, Wang Naidun , Zhao Xiudong, and Li Wenlu from Shandong won the first, second , and third place of this year's North Business Elite Competition, and Li Long, a foreign trade merchant from Hebei, won the Best Popularity Award.

  (Photo: 7 representatives of foreign trade enterprises and staff of Alibaba International Station at the finals of the Alibaba International Station North Business Elite Competition)

At the finals, Han Xiuyun, a Chinese economist and associate professor of the Department of Economics at the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University, said that Chinese foreign trade companies can look at overseas opportunities from a macroeconomic perspective. "China's cross-border e-commerce has obvious export advantages. From the perspective of transaction volume, B2B is an important transaction model for China's cross-border e-commerce, accounting for 77 % . Cross-border e-commerce has broken the traditional regional barriers, allowing domestic small and medium-sized foreign trade companies to seize export opportunities. Alibaba International Station has become a 'digital outlet' for small and medium-sized enterprises , helping small and medium-sized foreign trade companies find a second growth curve."

In Professor Han's view, China's manufacturing industry has strong export strength and the industrial chain cluster effect, which gives China's cross-border e-commerce unique conditions. Public data shows that in 2021 , China accounted for 29.8% of the added value of manufacturing in various countries , ranking first in the world.

This year's Beishang Elite Competition is the 13th elite competition of the Northern Region of Alibaba International Station. It has now become a cross-border e-commerce event with a long history and is deeply loved by small and medium-sized foreign trade companies .

Foreign trade enterprises from different industries, backgrounds and types competed in comprehensive digital foreign trade capabilities. The top 7 contestants shared their successful experiences from multiple perspectives, including brand positioning, products, operations, international station marketing, and digital tools, based on their own digital foreign trade practices. There were also expert judges on site to guide the contestants , which was also a reference for a wider range of foreign trade enterprises .

Wang Naidun , general manager of Shandong Qingdao Oriental Shimao , is a typical representative of the rapid development of small and medium-sized enterprises in the north through cross-border e-commerce. Starting from zero foundation in foreign trade, he exported mobile fast food trucks and RVs to more than 70 countries and regions in the world, helping overseas customers to start their entrepreneurial journey with the light mode of mobile RVs. After 6 years of cooperation with the international station , the annual growth has been steady, and the export volume is expected to achieve a year-on-year growth of 200 % in 2022. He also innovatively developed a patented mobile hair salon car.

Zhao Xiudong is a foreign trade dreamer who insists on running in the "oil field" and has been working in the field of petroleum machinery for 13 years. The performance of Shandong Bi'an Petroleum Equipment, which he founded, has been declining due to the epidemic, but it has also prompted Zhao Xiudong to awaken to digital foreign trade awareness and gradually transform from the traditional exhibition model to the new direction of online digitalization. In 2021 , with the help of the Alibaba International Station Gold Product Platform, the export volume of Shandong Bi'an Petroleum Equipment increased by 880% year-on-year , and the number of new customers increased by 950% year-on-year .

Li Wenlu , general manager of Shandong Biyi Energy , is known as the " post-80s treasure trove boss " because he always gives his friends a lot of good ideas. The company's main business is metal packaging containers . Li Wenlu 's foreign trade business started very early, but with the help of cross-border e-commerce in 2020 , the company ushered in a " second spring " . Through product development thinking and digital business management models, he achieved an annual export volume of 150 million in 2021. At present, more than 90% of the company's customers come from Alibaba International Station.

Li Long, general manager of Chuangmei Paper Products in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, was originally a big seller on Tmall and Taobao. During the epidemic, he further expanded overseas through data analysis and product selection tools. Combining domestic and foreign trade, Li Long sold 500 million yuan in sales in just three years for the seemingly insignificant catering packaging bag business. The foreign trade export performance in the first half of 2022 exceeded three times that of 2021 .

Chen Yu , the highly educated CEO of Liaoning Tengao Technology , is known as the "Doctor of Science who sells matches". He started his business in 2016, starting with traditional domestic trade and switching to foreign trade in 2019. He is good at using digital marketing tools to quickly create hot products. His newly developed match product line has quickly opened up the overseas market and has accounted for 23 % of the company's export orders .

According to statistics, the annual export volume of foreign trade merchants participating in the elite competition has an average year-on-year growth of more than 20%, and the winning merchants can even achieve an annual export volume growth of more than 1000% .

Zhao Xiadi , who runs a footwear business , is a contestant of the 11th Elite Tournament. After crossing over to the foreign trade industry , he made good use of his ingenuity, seized the many customer acquisition scenarios on the international site , and mastered digital marketing . Last year, his export volume increased by an astonishing 10 times compared to before the competition. Lv Xiuqiong , who specializes in mattress products , is also a contestant of the 11th Elite Tournament . After transforming from a C-end to foreign trade, he quickly mastered the B- end cross-border e-commerce gameplay on the international site and grew into a leading merchant in the industry . In 2021 , his annual export volume increased by 750% compared to before the competition .

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Full-link digitalization