Xinhua Finance and economics, Beijing, February 4 (Xinhua) — Shi Xinzhan of the information technology research department of the Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co.Ltd(000166) Securities Research Institute’s Spring Festival return experience:
Yiwu is a well-known capital of small commodities at home and abroad. The popularity of my hometown brings convenience to me when I go out – a new friend asks, “where are you from?” I just need to answer the word “Yiwu”; In the next conversation, you may also need to explain that your family is not a big boss, has no family business to inherit, and still has to work hard. Of course, most people’s impression of Yiwu may still stay in the world’s largest small commodity market. Have Yiwu kept up with the trend of the times in recent years? Under the uncertainty caused by the epidemic, what is the economic vitality of Yiwu? Some clues found during the Spring Festival of the year of the tiger may give some answers.
clue 1: rare emptiness during the Spring Festival
People in Yiwu City may put down their business temporarily only during the Spring Festival. This year, the international trade city will be closed on December 26 of the lunar calendar and open on the twelfth day of the first month. In addition to this period of time, people can’t stop pursuing wealth in other days, whether winter or summer, long holidays or weekends. During the Spring Festival, the original busy market finally ushered in a rare desolation. The following picture is taken near the South Gate of the market. On the right side of the picture is Yiwu financial and business district, which has sprung up in recent years:
So where did everyone go? The answer is “return home”. According to the data of Qipu, the permanent resident population of Yiwu city was close to 1.86 million in 2020, an increase of 630000 over the past decade, an increase of 51% compared with 2010. The total population ranks first among county-level cities in Zhejiang Province, and the population increment is higher than that of Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing, Quzhou, Zhoushan and Lishui. More importantly, most of the new population in Yiwu comes from the migration of people outside the province. The vibrant Yiwu economy, sufficient employment opportunities and a good entrepreneurial environment have become the fundamental reasons for Yiwu to attract foreign population. Among the permanent residents, 67% of the population in Yiwu is separated from households, which is significantly higher than the level of 47% in the whole province and 35% in the whole country. There are 880000 people flowing into Yiwu from other provinces, accounting for 47% of the total permanent population. No wonder there is less excitement in Yiwu during the Spring Festival.
In order to match the large-scale population flow, the large-scale upgrading project of Yiwu Railway Station has been under construction for many years. Every time I take the high-speed railway back to my hometown, it can give me a fresh feeling. According to the plan, in the future, six railways including Hangzhou Changsha high-speed railway, Shanghai Kunming railway, Jinyong railway, Hangzhou Wenzhou high-speed railway, Jinyi third and fourth line and Jinyi East urban rail will be interconnected at Yiwu Railway Station. The scale of Yiwu station will reach 11 sets and 27 lines, becoming the second largest station in the province after Hangzhou east station.
clue 2: land “Yixin Europe” and sea “Yiyong boat”
Under the influence of the overseas epidemic, a large number of manufacturing orders have turned to China, and Yiwu is an important beneficiary. According to the data of Yiwu government network, in 2021, Yiwu exported 365.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.7%, exceeding the growth rate of the whole province by 2.0%; From the perspective of trading partners, in 2021, the total import and export value of Yiwu to Africa / ASEAN / EU was 76.3 billion yuan, 50.4 billion yuan and 41.1 billion yuan respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 14.5% / 42.8% / 42.2% respectively. The total value of imports and exports to the United States / India / Thailand / Chile / Malaysia was 415 / 176 / 134 / 122 / 11.5 billion yuan respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 41.0% / 38.5% / 92.5% / 62.4% / 28.7% respectively.
More striking data is that the export of high-tech products in Yiwu in 2021 was 15.9 billion yuan, an increase of 181%, showing the effectiveness of industrial upgrading in Yiwu. According to the work report of Yiwu Municipal government, in 2021, Yiwu introduced 11 photovoltaic strong chain extension projects, and aixu phase IV, phase V, Trina Solar Co.Ltd(688599) phase II and other projects were put into operation; There are 4 enterprises in the chip industrial park
Under the strong external demand, the shortage of shipping containers is a big problem, which puzzles some of my relatives and friends who do foreign trade business. The “Yixin Europe” train on land can alleviate the urgent need of Europe. In 2021, the number of Yixin Europe trains reached 1277, with a year-on-year increase of 31%, and the shipment volume exceeded 105000 TEUs. On the first day of the lunar new year, China Central Television reported the news that the Yixin Europe train will leave Yiwu from Alashankou, Xinjiang to Madrid, the capital of Spain, 13000 kilometers away; Moreover, such trains will run 7 on the first day of the lunar new year alone, and 36 are planned to run during the Spring Festival to maintain a regular and intensive operation. These trains loaded with one’s production and living one ensure the trade demand one belt, one road along the Eurasian continent, and contribute to the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain.
In terms of shipping, “yiyongzhou open channel” is being built. Under the strategy of “going to sea by port in the East and leaving the country by land in the west”, Yiwu connects with the “Silk Road Economic Belt” in the West; Connect Ningbo Zhoushan port to the East and connect with the core cities in the Yangtze River Delta and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road. As an international dry port city, the target of Yiwu International Dry Port is Duisburg port in Germany. Now customers can enjoy one-stop international logistics services such as customs declaration, inspection, warehouse management, customs clearance and inspection in Yiwu. However, during the Spring Festival holiday, the large number of container trucks on the road are temporarily invisible.
clue 3: hardworking and intelligent Yiwu people
Although the epidemic has not passed, we can see that Yiwu is full of vitality at the macro statistical level. Looking at the micro level, there are more than one million hardworking and intelligent Yiwu people (and xinyiwu people) tirelessly creating wealth and exploring business opportunities.
Just after the new year, a relative (and my peers) told me that he would start work on the second day of the new year. His company has become a global leader in a very segmented market. A large number of products are sold to global customers through “express” (a cross-border e-commerce platform for the international market). Foreign countries are only in the Spring Festival, and the orders received should be delivered in time; But when the workers go home on holiday, the whole family of the boss will come together to pack and prepare the goods. In terms of domestic sales, they are also supplying a large number of Taobao stores and emerging live e-commerce. I believe thousands on thousands of new generation of Yiwu people, whether they are self starting or inheriting their families, can break through a new world by introducing new business philosophy, expanding Wuxi Online Offline Communication Information Technology Co.Ltd(300959) sales channels, and accurately capturing customer needs, and carry forward Yiwu’s business culture.
In the gossip after dinner, a generation of Yiwu people talked about their history of prosperity. For example, they traveled most of Shanghai in the 1990s and got the exclusive source of zebra brand shoe polish; There are bosses who have done offline business for half a life, worked hard to learn e-commerce knowledge, and finally “moved” the store to “Yiwu purchase” and harvested a large number of new orders; There are also inspirational stories about how young people from other places can rely on the powerful resources of Yiwu to start from scratch in the e-commerce live broadcast village to achieve small achievements, and so on. Although these stories have their own background of the times, what remains unchanged is the continuous struggle spirit inherited from generation to generation. Today, Yiwu is still a hot land for entrepreneurship and pursuing dreams, with extremely high-quality commercial resources. The strivers, builders and managers in this city are making it more and more beautiful. Finally, I sincerely wish the people in my hometown a prosperous business, a wide range of financial resources and a good year of the tiger!
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