2020 Global Sources Export Enterprise Promotion Demand Research Report

In order to understand the actual promotion needs of export enterprises, Global Sources conducted a survey on 224 suppliers in July this year. The results are as follows:

The main source of respondents in this survey is Guangdong Province (41.82%), followed by Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai in the second, fourth and fifth places, followed by Zhejiang (10.45%), Shanghai (6.82%) and Jiangsu (6.36%), showing the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. The foreign trade strength of the regional economic belt. In addition, it is worth noting that Shandong, whose economic recovery in the first half of the year was higher than the national average, ranked third among customer sources (7.27%), second only to Guangdong and Zhejiang.

From the perspective of business structure, pure foreign trade companies only account for 24.55%, both domestic and foreign trade, but the number of companies focusing on foreign trade is roughly the same as the number of companies focusing on domestic trade, 38.84% and 36.61% respectively, It reflects that although more than half of the interviewed companies focus on foreign trade, a considerable number of foreign trade companies have maintained their focus on the domestic market.

From the point of view of the export destination of enterprise products, the most countries and regions are still traditional trading partners such as Europe, America and Southeast Asia. More than half of the surveyed companies chose to export to Europe (59.38%) and the Americas (55.8%). However, the number of companies exporting to Southeast Asia has also continued to grow, and now ranks third (33.93%). According to the statistics of China Customs in the first half of the year, the total import and export volume with ASEAN has accounted for 14.7% of my country's total foreign trade value, and ASEAN has become my country's largest trading partner.

The impact of the epidemic and its response

97.32% of the interviewed companies have resumed work, reflecting various safeguard policies for resumption of work and production in China Support the momentum of economic recovery. However, the resumption of work does not mean that business activities have fully resumed.

The impact of the epidemic is far-reaching and comprehensive, which is also reflected in the next set of data: in the degree of impact of the epidemic on business operations, except for 7.59% of the respondents , and other companies have been significantly affected. Although 51.34% of the companies declared that "the impact is small and their operations are generally stable", on the other hand, the actual number of foreign trade companies that have been hit hard by the epidemic is not many. 32.59% of the interviewed enterprises said that "the impact is relatively large, and the operation is barely maintained", and 8.48% of the interviewed enterprises chose "the impact is serious, the economic loss is huge, and the operation is facing difficulties". The sum of these two items means that at least 40% of foreign trade enterprises have been hit hard by the epidemic.

In terms of the challenges and risks brought about by the epidemic, the vast majority (75.45%) of enterprises admitted that "the market demand is shrinking and orders are decreasing". This is a common problem encountered by foreign trade enterprises. However, unlike the past, the isolation policy caused by the epidemic has made traditional remedies ineffective - 48.66% of the interviewed companies said that "it is impossible to participate in offline exhibitions and it is difficult to develop new customers". In terms of supply chain, the chaos caused by the epidemic to the economic lives of various countries has also brought a chain reaction to the foreign trade industry: 33.04% of the interviewed companies said that "freight shipments are blocked and customs clearance is difficult"; 34.82% of foreign trade companies said "supply chain efficiency Decline, cost increase”; in the face of falling demand and rising cost, 32.59% of the interviewed companies admitted that “cash flow is tight”.

To make matters worse, in addition to the difficulties in reality, the deteriorating economy of various countries has also made the idea of de-globalization surging. "Increased" foreign trade enterprises accounted for 33.93%. In terms of scale, the export scale of 68.3% of the interviewed enterprises has decreased, and only 11.61% of foreign trade enterprises have increased their export scale. Even if the enterprises with the same scale (20.09%) are included, the enterprises that can maintain their original level without declining are only 11.61%. But slightly more than three percent. This shows that the export pressure of foreign trade enterprises is an indisputable fact.

In this case, although foreign trade companies have taken some measures to respond, they generally tend to respond passively: the respondents who chose "control and reduce operating costs" accounted for 65.18%, and 62.5% of the surveyed companies chose to "adjust their business goals for 2020". Fortunately, foreign trade companies have taken multiple measures in addition to this, and have also taken some measures to actively "open source": 47.77% of the interviewed companies "explore new business"; ” 40.18% of the respondents; some companies choose to increase the domestic trade business model, and such companies account for 31.25%. However, in general, the proportion of enterprises that have taken proactive measures to respond to the epidemic has not exceeded half.

This may be related to the expectation of foreign trade companies on the duration of the epidemic and the pace of economic recovery. When asked "When is the normalization of operations and trade expected to be fully realized?", only 16.52% of the respondents believe that this time point will appear in the second half of this year, and the respondents who hope to see 2021 account for only 16.52% of the respondents. At 42.86%, 33.48% of the respondents believe that 2021 will not be enough for the foreign trade environment to return to normal. This reflects that most foreign trade companies are basically disillusioned with the short-term end of the epidemic, and are psychologically prepared for the long-term impact of the epidemic on the foreign trade environment. Therefore, at the current stage, it has become a more logical choice for most foreign trade companies to take a defensive approach and wait for an opportunity.

Interestingly, there are different opinions on the overall trend of the foreign trade industry. Foreign trade companies who believe that the overall foreign trade market will rise, remain flat and decline each account for one-third. But by contrast, most companies with an "up" view see an increase of about 0-25%, while most companies with a "down" view see a decline of about 11-50%. This reflects that the impact of the epidemic has made foreign trade companies more conservative in their expectations for the future.

The export-oriented economy advocated by China in the past mainly depends on two external conditions: one is a stable and friendly international trade environment, and the other is continuous capital inflow. The trade war launched by the United States has changed this environment, and the epidemic has also exposed countries to the risk of concentrating all production capacity in China. Therefore, the above two conditions have been severely tested.

The Politburo meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in July this year pointed out that in the face of the current complex and severe economic situation, it is necessary to consider the many problems China is currently encountering from the perspective of protracted war and the medium and long-term time span. It is necessary to accelerate the formation of a new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the main body and the domestic and international dual cycles promoting each other. The so-called "internal circulation" can be interpreted in two directions: on the demand side, replace the international export market with the domestic consumer market; on the supply side, reduce dependence on transnational supply chains and foreign core technologies.

Although the internal circulation represents a new direction that cannot be ignored by foreign trade companies, the interviewed companies generally have some concerns in developing the domestic market. 60.71% of the interviewed companies are worried about the issue of issuing and receiving money, 56.7% of the respondents are worried about the operation of domestic promotion channels, and 52.23% of the respondents are worried about the purchasing behavior of domestic buyers. From the experience of foreign trade enterprises in the past, it can be seen that many enterprises were established for overseas market opportunities rather than the domestic market. For such enterprises to successfully transform into domestic trade in a short period of time, many difficulties still need to be solved. If the government or non-governmental organizations such as Global Sources provide support and guidance in this process, it will be more effective.

Exhibition is expected, new online demand

From the point of view of promotion methods, the means of foreign trade enterprises to explore the international market relatively diverse. They mainly rely on traditional methods such as large foreign dealers and local partners (40.18%), industry B2B websites (40.18%) and offline exhibitions (37.5%). The proportion of cross-border e-commerce platforms (30.36%) is even slightly lower than that of email marketing (31.25%). However, online exhibitions, overseas social media marketing networks and other online promotions accounted for 20.54%, 20.54% and 24.55% respectively, showing that online channels still have the potential to improve in the future. This can also be seen from the investment plans of foreign trade companies: among the promotion channels that will increase investment in the future, online exhibitions and online promotion account for 41.52% and 56.7% respectively.

As for the location selection of overseas exhibitions in the next 12 months, the preference is Asia (average score is 4.55, out of 6), and the scores of Europe and North America are only 3.68 and 2.97 respectively, which is far behind Asia. larger. According to industry analysts, it is mainly due to the difficulty of intercontinental travel due to the impact of the epidemic.

In terms of domestic trade exhibitions targeting the domestic market, the preferred host city of the interviewed companies is Shanghai (33.48%), but the status of Shenzhen is almost the same (29.91%), and the third place is Guangzhou. Relatively backward, the gap is large (only 20.54%). The vast majority (79.02%) of the companies surveyed prefer industry exhibitions, and nearly half of the companies are willing to accept the form of procurement exhibitions (45.98%), while less than 30% of companies choose government-led exhibitions/matchmaking meetings (29.02%). %). This is also evidenced by the list of exhibitions that the interviewed companies have participated in in the past two years.

Judging from the expectations of the interviewed companies for domestic trade exhibitions, 82% of the respondents said that they hoped that "the industry will be more targeted and buyers will be more precise", which is the most important thing for them to participate in domestic trade exhibitions. important point. In addition, the strong ability to invite buyers is also a plus point for the interviewed companies. Of course, due to the impact of the epidemic, expanding the audience is also the expectation of many interviewed companies for the exhibition: 46.88% of the interviewed companies hope that domestic trade exhibitions should invite not only domestic buyers, but also foreign buyers, and export and domestic trade promotion at the same time; 34.38% of the interviewed companies hope that in addition to B-type buyers, the exhibition is also open to C-type customers in order to expand domestic brand awareness; and 31.7% of the interviewed companies hope to hold both online and offline, so as to get in touch with more buyer.

It is worth mentioning that 25.45% of the surveyed companies hope to join the new promotion method of online live streaming.

Because of the epidemic, the industry market most favored by the interviewed companies is "sports and health" (64.73%), which is even more popular than the concept of "smart life" that has been built in the industry for many years (61.16 %). The consumer electronics industry, which was driven by the "stay-at-home economy" during the epidemic, ranked third (48.21%).