An aerial drone photo shows the Qingdao Port in east China's Shandong Province, Feb. 11, 2024. The Qingdao port is busy handling goods for export during the Spring Festival holiday. (Xinhua/Li Ziheng)

Chinese provinces and cities are starting off strong with obtaining overseas orders in the Year of the Dragon by sending teams abroad while actively participating in international exhibitions. 

For instance, 35 businesses sent 67 representatives from Yiwu, capital of small commodities in East China's Zhejiang Province, to the Sourcing at Magic Show held in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 13, with the intended deals exceeding 40 million yuan ($5.63 million). Since the beginning of 2024, 172 representatives from 99 local enterprises have participated in 21 overseas exhibitions, stcn.com reported.  

A total of 184 enterprises involving 375 outbound exhibitors covering 224 booths from Ningbo, Zhejiang attended four key overseas exhibitions from February 1 to 17, with numbers for participating enterprises, booths and exhibitors all setting new records, according to data from the Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Commerce.   

A wide range of businesses in sectors including toys, eyeglasses and auto parts that are based in Zhejiang - a major production hub - have sent teams abroad in a bid to expand overseas markets. Zhejiang is just a representation of domestic businesses seeking to expand their international market share. Analysts attributed the fervor to China's strength in its manufacturing sector, bolstered by continued industrial upgrading and other advances.  

The active measures taken by local businesses and responsible authorities will consolidate established cooperation and help Chinese businesses explore new opportunities, Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

Li said that the active presence of domestic enterprises in the global market also showed that Chinese companies have sufficient confidence to meet all types of demand from international clients. 

Trade will still play an important role in driving up economic growth for this year, Hu Qimu, deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

He said that it has become a tradition for Chinese enterprises to go abroad to attract orders at the beginning of each year, especially after the epidemic, while enterprises can benefit from dividends provided by ramped-up policy support.

The Yiwu city government will subsidize qualified enterprises and individuals for 60 percent of the cost of participating in overseas exhibitions in 2024, according to media reports. 

East China's Anhui Province will also support enterprises undertaking overseas investment and cooperation projects, while promoting moves involving local products, equipment, services and industries in "going global," responsible authorities vowed at a dedicated meeting, Chinanews.com reported on Saturday. 

Despite lingering challenges such as "decoupling" practices implemented by some Western countries, observers remained upbeat about China's trade recovery and progress in 2024 thanks to major advantages from firm policy support and industrial upgrading to the country's large consumption potential.

Li said that there are good reasons to expect an upswing in China's foreign trade in 2024. He attributed the upswing to the country's optimized trade structure, its wide-reaching offering of products and a stable supply chain that delivers value and benefits to global investors.  

Hu stressed the significance of continuously propelling trade development, especially in the face of "decoupling." 

"China has the capability and force to further advance its foreign trade in 2024 from the perspective of market fundamentals and policy pull, expecting an improved trade situation amid recovering domestic demand," said Hu, adding that China's considerable demand scale and well-established infrastructure and industrial chain will remain appealing for foreign investment and cooperation. 

Foreign enterprises have been drawn to China amid its consumption transformation to a higher-end pattern, which is in line with the development path of multiple international corporations, Li noted, adding that China's advantage in attracting foreign investment is no longer limited to affordable production and labor.

The State Council executive meeting held on Friday stressed the need to shore up foreign investors' confidence in developing businesses in China, and boost the quality and level of trade and investment cooperation, according to the Xinhua News Agency.  

The meeting was held to study measures to make greater efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment, and arrange work to forestall and defuse local debt risks further.