Anti-dumping shoes enterprises how to break through protectionism

Since the end of November 2009, a 30-second advertisement from the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China has been frequently broadcast on global mainstream media such as CNN. The reason why the advertisement with the theme of "Made in China and the World Cooperation" was introduced is because China's foreign trade exports have faced a more severe situation than ever before this year. In the first three quarters of this year alone, 19 countries had initiated up to 88 trade remedy investigations on Chinese products, involving a total of 10.2 billion US dollars, an increase of 125% year-on-year. Under the background of the double-digit decline in exports this year, how China’s foreign trade broke through in the protectionist barrier in 2010 became a major issue for foreign traders.

In the coming 2009, China's economy driven by exports and investment suffered a huge setback; this year, some foreign trade companies fell from heaven to hell. At the beginning of the year, news of the closure of foreign trade companies came from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong coasts. Some Chinese businessmen who have made dozens of years of clothing and toys for European and American customers have apparently failed to fully prepare themselves for a sharply downturned economic situation. For a time, “stopping work” and “redundancy” have become common words used by the media to report foreign trade situations. The Ministry of Commerce, the Academy of Social Sciences, the National Research Center and other competent authorities and high-level think tanks have moved southwards, trying to find the root cause of the crisis and exploring a good way out of the predicament.

It turns out that in the past 30 years or so, the seemingly blooming growth of export has long hidden the hidden dangers of today's predicament - "Made in China" is always at the low end of the industrial chain, and its product competitiveness is not strong. It is not high, there is no own brand, there is no overseas marketing channel, there is no pricing power... This series of drawbacks determines that our export efficiency is even lower than that of Japan and South Korea in the 1990s. It is also in this year that the foreign trade industry is deeply aware that the huge export scale cannot support a strong trading nation.

The 2009 Central Economic Work Conference held not long ago clearly stated that it is necessary to “enhance the grades, added value, and competitiveness of export products.” This shows that the central government is looking at the issue of foreign trade with a strategic height. In the past, foreign trade companies that only paid attention to orders began to gradually cultivate their own brands, and powerful companies even took their products abroad by means of overseas investment.

This year, using the opportunity for the parent company to “sell off” during the crisis, the Sichuan company Tengzhong Heavy Industries acquired Hummer and the Zhejiang private enterprise Geely entered into an agreement to acquire Volvo. Enterprises may win the technology by acquiring brands or become a trend. In order to provide enterprises with sufficient information, the Ministry of Commerce has also gathered the strength of the Chinese embassies in various countries to launch the "Guide to Foreign Investment Cooperation Countries (Regions)" this year. Right now, the Chinese government has also started discussions with the World Bank on building industrial zones and low-cost factories in Africa. It seems that for foreign trade companies, 2009 may not be destined to be a tragedy year. Opportunities in the crisis will also be given to people who are bold and wise.

This year, in the context of the unprecedented “protection” of trade protectionism by Chinese exporting companies, the government has also changed its low profile in the past and set a banner for counter-productive trade. On the evening of September 11, the U.S. government announced that it had taken special safeguard measures against Chinese tire products exported to the United States. Just two days later, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce immediately initiated anti-dumping and anti-subsidy case filing review procedures for some US cars and broiler products. Not long ago, a brewing commercial film entered the vision of a trading partner. It tried to break the impression that Chinese products robbed the market and spread the global concept of “Made in China and World Cooperation”.

In the hurricane of the financial crisis, free trade has become the first victim. At this time, the primary task of all countries is to stabilize their economies and keep their rice bowls. China’s trade policy has also received the most extensive support. Behind this support is the Chinese government’s increasingly powerful voice in bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations.

Exports have been the hero of China’s economic growth over the past 30 years. Although its recovery has been faltering and unable to keep up with the pace of GDP, we cannot afford to give it up when it is most difficult. At the end of the year, if there is anything worthy of foreign trade people's relief, it is the stability of the exchange rate of RMB and the increase of export tax rebates. However, marketization is the meaning of global economic issues. Policies cannot always be used to escort companies. While experts advocate financial support for foreign trade, they whisper on various occasions that “companies must be good at internal strength, and cannot rely on it”.

In 2009, it was the year that China’s foreign trade experienced the most severe test; in 2010, it may be the first year of foreign trade restructuring.