A merchant selling trophies checks online orders on April 10, 2024, in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province. As the Paris 2024 Olympic Games draws near, some merchants selling sports-related products have seen a spike in export orders. Photo: cnsphoto

Yiwu, the world's largest wholesale market for small commodities located in East China's Zhejiang Province, is embracing a surge in exports of sporting goods as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games draws near. Some merchants in the city said sales have jumped by about 30 percent year-on-year driven by orders from France.

As a major production base for a variety of global events and activities, the significant surge of export orders for Yiwu ahead of international events showcased that the world still strongly relies on Made-in-China products as there is no other place that can take on such a large number of orders in such a short period of time,observers noted. 

Analysts said the robust export growth in Yiwu reflects the resilience, potential and vitality of China's foreign trade, a slap in the face of Western media outlets that have sought to discredit China's export sector and the economy as a whole.

Chen Xianchun, a Yiwu-based merchant who sells trophies and medals, told the Global Times on Friday that her shop had seen a 20 to 30 percent increase in orders from the Europe since the beginning of 2024, with clients snapping up over 100,000 units so far. And the bestselling items in her store are trophies adorned with ribbons in the colors of the French flag.

A manager from Yiwu China Commodities City told the Global Times on Sunday that in the first quarter of 2024, the platform saw a remarkable 53.92 increase in orders of sports shoes compared with the same period in 2023, with transaction volume up 43.43 times.

Orders for colored flags for sports events also increased by 2.26 times, with transaction volume growing around fourfold compared with the same period last year, said the manager, who asked to remain anonymous. 

Data from the Yiwu Customs showed that the export value to France totaled 540 million yuan ($74.61 million) in the first two months of 2024, up 42 percent year-on-year, while the exports of sports goods to France surged by 70.5 percent year-on-year. Over the same period, Yiwu's exports of sports goods to the EU jumped by 62.5 percent year-on-year to reach 180 million yuan, local media outlet Zhejiang Daily reported.

Robust momentum

The export momentum of Yiwu,one of the major foreign trade hubs in China, underscores the pulse of China's overall foreign trade.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Friday, China's foreign trade in goods reached 10.17 trillion yuan in the first quarter of 2024, expanding 5 percent year-on-year in yuan, hitting a new high in six quarters.

Over the period, exports from the world's second-biggest economy were 4.9 percent higher year-on-year, reaching 5.74 trillion yuan, GAC data showed.

The sound growth in foreign trade is also driving the growth of China-Europe freight train services. In the first quarter of 2024, China-Europe Railway Express made more than 4,541 trips, up 9 percent year-on-year, and a total of 493,000 standard containers of goods were delivered, up 10 percent year-on-year, according to data released by China Railway on Sunday.

In 2024, China's foreign trade sector faces a critical development period, during which targeted efforts are needed to develop new quality productive forces, Wei Jianguo, former Chinese vice minister of commerce and currently executive deputy director of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"The development of new quality productive forces will not only meet domestic demand but also serve as a development force for foreign trade because it will boost exports of innovative products while reducing logistics costs," Wei said.

Amid profound changes in the international landscape and numerous complex challenges facing global economic development, China's foreign trade sector faces an array of challenges. However, the fundamental strength of China's economy remains on an upward trajectory, with a solid foundation underpinning the sustained improvement in its foreign trade, GAC deputy head Wang Lingjun told a press conference on Friday.

It is expected that China's imports and exports will maintain an upward trend in the second quarter of 2024, showing strong growth over the first half of the year, Wang said.

High-quality development
Looking ahead, China's high-level opening-up and the development of new quality productive forces will serve as strong support for growth of foreign trade while injecting momentum into China's overall economic recovery. 

The Chinese economy reported a better-than-expected first quarter of 2024, and the economic growth is expected to reach around 5 percent year-on-year over the period, providing a solid foundation for the achievement of the country's annual GDP target, Wen Bin, chief economist from China Minsheng Bank, told the Global Times on Sunday.

During this year's national two sessions, China has targeted its economic growth of around 5 percent for 2024, a goal that experts believe is well within reach considering the country's sound economic fundamentals and policy measures.

Wen forecast that the authorities will strengthen efforts to enhance the "precision and effectiveness" of monetary policies to inject new momentum to boost economic structure adjustment and economic transition for high-quality development.

Amid China's strong economic recovery trend since the beginning of 2024, foreign financial institutions including Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley have reportedly raised their outlook for its economic growth this year.

Goldman economists led by Hui Shan said in a research note on Wednesday that the bank sees China's 2024 growth forecast at 5 percent versus 4.8 percent previously. Morgan Stanley also lifted its 2024 growth forecast for the Chinese economy to 4.8 percent from 4.2 percent previously, citing better-than-expected export growth from resilient US demand and robust export volume, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-10/goldman-boosts-china-growth-forecast-after-strong-manufacturing-data

China's economy has achieved remarkable achievements thanks to reform and opening-up. The high-quality development of the economy will continue to advance under the conditions of high-level opening-up, Wei noted.

Wei said China has entered an era where development dividends come from institutional opening-up. Against this backdrop, China should further improve the country's legal framework for foreign investment, accelerate the formation of standards in services sector opening-up, intellectual property right protection and cross-border digital flow, and continue to promote the internationalization of the yuan, he told the Global Times.