Growth in the time of commodity rise

Beifa has been partnering with over 3,200 companies from the upstream and downstream supply chain across China, to ensure they stay competitive in both global and domestic markets.

After selling 20 billion pens, ball pens and pencils globally for more than two decades, the company, supported by over 3,000 designers, currently is building a cultural and creative goods-themed industrial chain to promote its sales in several segments of the market, including schools, offices, gift sections of department stores and art institutes.

In addition to producing high-end pens and further competing with global rivals such as Mont Blanc, the Swiss manufacturer of premium pens and watches, and the US-based Parker Pen Co, the company will deploy resources to develop digital and artificial intelligence products like lamps and lanterns, and other smart home products, said Qiu Zhiming, the group's chairman.

The company aims to boost its home market share to 20 percent this year, though its exports grew in 2020. What's more, in the first quarter of this year, export value surged 130 percent year-on-year.

"We will do more in exploring cross-border e-commerce this year, building overseas warehouses and providing customized services to foreign consumers. All these efforts aim to diversify risks," he said.

Rising prices of aluminum, copper and steel (iron ore) have forced Aux Group, a Ningbo-based air conditioner manufacturer, to raise product prices. Aux Group's competitors in both China and the rest of the world followed suit.

Thus, the prices of refrigerators, televisions and washing machines have risen in the domestic and global markets this year, said Deng Jun, executive vice-president of Aux Group, noting there will be more price hikes in the air conditioning industry in the second half of the year.

Because the pandemic compelled more people to stay at home across the world last year, Aux Group managed single-digit growth in exports in 2020. It saw more than 20 percent growth in exports in the first quarter of this year. It aims to ship up to 8 million air conditioners to markets abroad in each of the next two years.

Deng said the company, apart from expanding sales networks in its traditional markets, including the Middle East and Europe, will seize opportunities in Southeast Asia, supported by its manufacturing bases in Thailand and Indonesia. This will be possible due to favorable tariff policies under the framework of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, he said.

China's imports and exports are expected to see steady expansion and improved quality this year, with the support of a series of favorable conditions, according to a report released by the Ministry of Commerce in early June.

To ease the pressure exerted by the economic impact of COVID-19, more than 10,000 Chinese export-oriented companies went online for the first time in 2020, while a large number of Chinese companies adopted digital solutions, including big data, business-to-business platforms and online exhibition activities to attract global customers and increase sales, the report said.

"Many Chinese manufacturers have continued to add investment to improve the technical content and added value of export products, in a bid to move up the value chain," Deng said.

He further said that a growing number of Chinese companies have also begun to cultivate their "soft power" for exports, focusing on improving the comprehensive capabilities of supply chain management, brand-building, quality-control and after-sales services to further compete with their global rivals.

China's foreign trade soared 28.2 percent year-on-year to 14.76 trillion yuan in the first five months of this year, reflecting its exports and imports are picking up growth momentum that is increasingly driven by domestic demand as well as booming overseas orders.

In the January-May period, the country's exports soared 30.1 percent year-on-year to 8.04 trillion yuan, while its imports rose 25.9 percent to 6.72 trillion yuan. Its trade surplus surged 56.2 percent year-on-year to 1.32 trillion yuan.

Chen Bin, executive vice-president of the Beijing-based China Machinery Industry Federation, predicted that second-quarter financial results of companies will show that China's export growth remained strong, as the COVID-19 pandemic saw a resurgence in export-oriented countries such as India and Vietnam, hurting their exports and making their overseas customers look for alternative suppliers.

Liang Ming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said: "We found that the structure of China's foreign trade is optimizing. For example, the contribution of processing trade is gradually increasing. China's high-tech companies from the private sector, State-owned enterprises and foreign-funded companies have all performed well to date this year."

With many countries setting goals to further cut carbon emissions, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio Inc announced last month that it will start exporting vehicles to Norway in September, its first step of its go-global campaign.

William Li, Nio's CEO, said the company will start to take orders in July. The vehicles will be made at its plant in Hefei, Anhui province.

Li said the company's passenger vehicles will be available in five European countries by 2022. The company has also been discussing the possibility of entering the market in the United States, he said.