To accelerate Zhejiang enterprises’ cross-border expansion, Alibaba International Station opens a “digital export port” to Zhejiang

On July 21 , Alibaba International Station released the "Digital Outlet - Foreign Trade Relief Plus Plan" , hoping to help Zhejiang foreign trade merchants better cope with the challenges of uncertainty through full-link deterministic digital products and services, and inject new momentum to secure orders and promote growth in the second half of the year.

On the same day, the "Digital Empowerment to Help Enterprises Alleviate Difficulties - 2022 Digital Zhejiang Businessmen High-Quality Overseas Cross-Border Summit " was held in Hangzhou.

"Let the ' digital outlet ' start from Zhejiang, help Zhejiang's small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises break through to the global market online, seize new opportunities in digital cross-border trade, and embark on a new path for brand reconstruction overseas. " Zhang Qianjiang, deputy director of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce, said that cross-border e-commerce has become a new driving force for Zhejiang's foreign trade growth.

( Qin Fen, head of the industry and merchant business department of Alibaba International Station )

" We will open up the digital foreign trade service capabilities accumulated over the years at the International Station to all foreign trade merchants , continuously promote the digitalization of the entire foreign trade process, and open a 'digital export port' at the doorstep of merchants. " Qin Fen, head of the Industry and Merchant Business Department of Alibaba International Station, introduced that the "Foreign Trade Relief Plus Plan" released this time is based on the "Ten Measures for Foreign Trade Relief" launched by the International Station in May this year in conjunction with 12 local government departments . It is aimed at Zhejiang foreign trade merchants, comprehensively improving their operational competitiveness, service competitiveness and talent competitiveness, and helping them to receive orders, ship goods, collect payments and recruit people.

In recent years, five major industrial chains in Zhejiang Province, including Zhejiang's trillion-yuan new energy vehicle industrial chain, Zhejiang's 500 billion-yuan smart home industrial chain, Zhejiang's clothing industry cluster, Yiwu's small commodities and accessories industry cluster, and Yongkang's hardware industry cluster, have accelerated their rise. This "Foreign Trade Relief Plus Plan" will be aimed at Zhejiang's core industrial belts, with special sessions launched every month to support new merchants and new products and provide advisory services. The annual plan covers 10,000 foreign trade merchants and releases more than one million new products. A digital Zhejiang merchant service system will also be established to comprehensively enhance the operation, business and management capabilities of foreign trade enterprises through online and offline exclusive closed-door training and online exclusive buyer activities. It is planned to help more than 15,000 companies become high-quality suppliers in the industry and achieve high-quality growth.

"Now during the epidemic, factories are still working overtime and have no time for production. There are about 3,000 companies in the country that can produce air compressors, but only about five can produce oil-free screw air compressors." In 2019, Xu Jingqian, a foreign trade man born in the 1960s in Yiwu and general manager of OPEC Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd., entered the international station and transformed from a traditional machinery factory to digital foreign trade. His greatest feeling is that both the platform and himself are becoming more and more determined to stick to the path of digitalization of the entire foreign trade process.

The 3,000-square-meter physical showroom used to receive overseas customers before the epidemic has now been converted by Xu Jingqian into a factory live broadcast room, where customers still come and go online. Xu Jingqian also invested 480,000 yuan to launch the cloud factory project on the international site, and installed 48 high-definition cameras in the factory. " Overseas customers can watch the factory online in real time 24 hours a day, which helped me receive many orders. The overall benefits far exceed the investment."

Since the beginning of this year, government departments at all levels, including the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce, have successively introduced various measures to stabilize foreign trade, reduce burdens and provide relief to help small and medium-sized enterprises develop foreign trade.

" Traditional foreign trade business relies on physical outlets to the sea. China's major foreign trade provinces are all coastal provinces and cities without exception. Cross-border e-commerce platforms represented by Alibaba International Station, together with the 'digital outlets' created in various places, are expected to break the traditional foreign trade barriers formed by geographical location. Building outlets in the fields and opening them at the gates of factories will enable private small and medium-sized enterprises to better utilize the dividends of digitalization and set sail to find new growth. " said Shi Lu, a well-known economist, leader and planning expert of the key research project compilation group of the National Development and Reform Commission .

At the event, Qin Fen also introduced the phased progress of Alibaba International Station's "Ten Measures to Relieve Foreign Trade Difficulties". Since its launch at the end of March, as of mid-June, the "Ten Measures to Relieve Foreign Trade Difficulties" have benefited 60,000 small and medium-sized businesses.

Alibaba International Station

Digitalization overseas