The photo captures Yiwu International Trade Market in East China's Zhejiang Province on August 23, 2024. Photo: VCG

At the Yiwu International Trade Market, in East China's Zhejiang Province, a lively dialogue held in foreign languages unfolds every morning, prior to the market's official opening for a busy day of trading.

"How many do you want to order? The more the order, the lower the price," a teacher would explain, as the students eagerly absorbed the frequently used business English vocabulary. Some students listened attentively, taking notes while others actively participating in oral discussions. 

These people come to improve their English skills to better communicate with their foreign customers and become better traders. From basic greetings to complex negotiations, they eagerly absorb every word, which is very helpful for expanding their businesses. 

Organized by the Zhejiang China Commodities City Group, English corners at the Yiwu International Trade Market have been running for more than a decade now. The efforts by Chinese traders to enhance their foreign language skills serve as a good example of the resilience and vibrancy of China's foreign trade. 

Supermarket for the world

"We have been learning English together for many years, organized by the market. The training is free, and is held every morning," a business owner from the Yiwu International Trade Market surnamed Cao, who operates an electronic equipment company, told the Global Times in an interview on Wednesday.

Cao said that business vendors in Yiwu specialize in many languages, especially those from those countries with a lot of trading opportunities. Improving language skills is essential for face-to-face communication and helps conduct business. 

"The English corner attracts many people, especially senior merchants who are looking to improve their English language level," another Yiwu-based electronics seller surnamed Leng, told the Global Times, noting that good language skills are a plus for them to communicate with their clients.

Jia Lan, who organizes the English corner, noted that in addition to English, they also offer Spanish, Korean, and Arabic languages for the beginner, intermediate, and advanced-level students.

"The English corners kicked off in 2007 to help Chinese traders better communicate with the influx of foreign clients to the small commodity market. We have developed our own teaching materials, focusing on basic spoken language skills. The courses cover topics such as basic trade negotiations, customer reception, price inquiries, product introduction, delivery, and payments," Jia told the Global Times on Wednesday.

In addition to learning foreign languages, some businesses owners at the Yiwu market are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create multilingual promotional video clips now.

Developed by Chinagoods AI Smart Service Platform, it allows business owners in Yiwu to seamlessly switch between various languages, enabling smooth communication with foreign traders from around the world. Chinagoods is the official B2B E-commerce platform of Yiwu International Trade Market.

As one of the AI technologies developed by the platform, it allows users to upload short videos, which can be translated into 36 languages, including English, French, German, Russian, Spanish and Arabic.

Home to more than 75,000 stalls, Yiwu International Trade Market is known as the world's largest small commodity supermarket. From here, over 2.1 million varieties of goods are shipped all over the world. An estimated 3,500 foreign merchants frequent the market on a daily basis, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Resilience of foreign trade 

The eagerness of Yiwu business vendors in learning foreign languages and doing their trades reflects the resilience of Chinese foreign trade in the face of complex external environment, analysts noted.

"The trend of Yiwu businesses keen on grasping foreign languages reflects the city's commitment to enhancing overall quality and adapting to the demands of globalization, positioning itself as a competitive global hub for the small commodities," Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

The proactive attitude of Yiwu business vendors not only benefits individual business expansion but also injects new vitality into the internationalization of the Yiwu market and China's foreign trade, Li noted.

China's foreign trade in commodities expanded 6.2 percent year-on-year to reach 24.83 trillion yuan ($3.46 trillion) in the first seven months this year, hitting a new record in volume. Behind this impressive data is the contribution of countless trading hubs like Yiwu.

Exports made by the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have continued to gain pace. In the first seven months, the main exports of Chinese SMEs include clothing, furniture, and household appliances, with new-energy automotive parts and smart audio and video equipment also performing well, according to a report by Chinese cross-border payment operator XTransfer sent to the Global Times.

XTransfer founder and CEO Deng Guobiao said that the export of SMEs to North America market is showing signs of improvement, and there is an acceleration in the trade of intermediate goods to ASEAN and Africa.

The brisk data add to an array of fresh evidences underscoring that the world's second largest economy has been maintaining steady growth momentum, despite facing internal and external challenges. It defied the protectionist measures and tariffs imposed on Chinese goods by certain Western countries, highlighting the resilience, competitiveness, and strength of the world's largest manufacturing powerhouse, analysts said.

Meanwhile, business and government across China are taking proactive actions to enhance the country's competitive edge in foreign trade, including organizing businesses to attend exhibitions, providing legal services, cultivating and introducing more talent in foreign trade, while strengthening cross-border e-commerce business. 

These efforts are creating conditions for Chinese manufacturing to "go global" at a faster pace, and are poised to provide assistance for China to continuously enhance its competitive advantage in trade, analysts said.