The Development of Xiamen Commerce and Trade in 2001

The Development of Xiamen Commerce and Trade in 2001

　In 2001, the commerce and trade industry on the whole developed quite smoothly.

　1.Import and export trade kept growing in the unfavorable situation. According to the statistics of the Customs, the total value of import and export of Xiamen in 2001 reached USD 11,079 million, a growth of 10.24%, 2.74 percentage points higher than the national growth. Of which, the value of export was USD 6,505 million, growing by 10.63% and 3.83 percentage points over the national growth, and that of import USD 4,574 million, growing by 9.69%. On the whole, import and export trade kept growing.

　In 2001, the total value of import and export of Xiamen domestic enterprises amounted to USD 3,840,180,000, of which the value of export was USD 2,604,220,000 and the value of import USD 1,235,960,000, growing by 11.79%, 15.56% and 4.59% respectively over those of the previous year. Among the domestic enterprises, the export of private enterprises grew rapidly with a total value of export of USD 637,450,000 in the year, or a growth of 87.75% over that of the previous year.

　In 2001, the total value of import and export of Xiamen foreign-funded enterprises reached USD 7,238,490,000, of which the value of export was USD 3,900,700,000 and the value of import USD 3,337,800,000, growing by 9.44%, 7.57% and 11.71% respectively over those of the previous year.

　In 2001, there were 1,632 enterprises engaged in export and 1,475 enterprises in import. There were 173 enterprises with the value of import and export over USD 10 million each, 24 greater than the figure of the previous year. Among them, 74 are domestic enterprises and 99 are foreign-funded enterprises, growing by 15 and 9 respectively from the previous year.

　Among the various trade modes in 2001, the value of import and export under general trade amounted to USD 4,430,530,000, accounting for 39.99% of the total import and export of Xiamen City, of which the value of export under general trade was USD 2,769,650,000 and that of import under general trade USD 1,660,890,000, going up by 16.22% and 12.9% over the previous year and accounting for 42.58% and 36.31% of the export/import of Xiamen City respectively; the value of import and export under processing trade was USD 5,060,580,000, accounting for 45.68% of the total import and export of Xiamen City, of which the value of export under processing trade was USD 3,253,660,000 and that of import under processing trade USD 1,806,920,000, going up by 6.4% and –2.01% over the previous year and accounting for 50.02% and 39.51% of the export/import of Xiamen City respectively; the value of import and export under other trade was USD 1,587,610,000, accounting for 14.33% of the total import and export of Xiamen City, of which the value of export under other trade was USD 481,610,000 and that of import under general trade USD 1,105,950,000, going up by 9.73% and 29.43% over the previous year and accounting for 7.4% and 24.18% of the export/import of Xiamen City respectively.

　In 2001, there were 178 countries and regions having import and export trade relations with Xiamen, 5 more than the figure of the previous year. There were 55 countries and regions with a trading volume of over USD 10 million with Xiamen. The top 10 trading partners of Xiamen in 2001 include the United States, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, England, Germany, Malaysia and Canada.

　Xiamen import and export value of primary goods (under Chapter 1 to Chapter 27 of Customs Commodity Code) in 2001 was USD 729,890,000, accounting for 6.59% of the total import and export volume, and that of manufactured goods (under Chapter 28 to Chapter 98 of Customs Commodity Code) USD 10,348,840,000, accounting for 93.41% of the total import and export volume and growing by 1.8 percentage points over the previous year. Of which, the export of primary goods was USD 417,320,000, accounting for 6.42% of the total export, and that of manufactured goods USD 6,087,610,000, accounting for 93.58% of the total export and growing by 1 percentage point over the previous year; the import of the primary goods was USD 312,570,000 and that of manufactured goods USD 4,261,240,000, accounting for 6.83% and 93.17% of the total import.

　Xiamen export of machinery and electrical appliances in 2001 reached USD 2,750,570,000, going up by 9.73% and accounting for 42.28% of the total export in Xiamen while the import of machinery and electrical appliances amounted to USD 2,340,810,000, increasing by 12.32% and accounting for 51.18% of the total import in Xiamen. The export of high and new technology products in 2001 came to USD 833,210,000, accounting for 12.81% of the total export in Xiamen and the import of high and new technology products rose to USD 793,210,000, growing by 3.68% and accounting for 17.34% of the total import in Xiamen.

　The characteristics of the import and export trade in 2001 are: First, Xiamen export is characterized by a high growth for the general trade and a moderate growth for the processing trade. The growth of general trade is 9.82 percentage points higher than that of processing trade. Second, the promotion of readjustment of principal participants in foreign trade has produced a marked effect, pushing the growth in export by domestic enterprises, which is 7.99 percentage points higher than that of foreign-funded enterprises. Small and medium-sized private enterprises also maintained a high growth. Third, the trade with Asian traditional markets, developed markets in Europe and America and new markets keeps growing. However, the growth in major export markets such the United States, EC, Hong Kong and Taiwan has dropped greatly. Fourth, the growth of export of traditional labor-intensive products still maintains two digits. However, due to the global economic recession and scant demand, the growth of export of machinery and electrical appliances under processing trade has dropped and the export of high and new technology products has declined. Fifth, the import maintains a low growth.

　2.The foreign economic and technological cooperation has developed smoothly. The newly contracted amount for foreign labor service was USD 149,740,000 in 2001, an increase of 147.34% over that of the previous year, and the foreign labor contracts performed reached USD 71,150,000. The number of dispatched labors to foreign countries was 4,676, growing by 965 from the previous year, and that in foreign countries at the end of the year was 9,820, 536 more than the figure of the previous year. The major characteristics: First, the markets in Israel and Taiwan for Xiamen labors have been developed to a considerable size and the construction labor market in Israel has become one of the major labor markets. The labors dispatched to work on Taiwan are over 500, reaching a certain scale. Second, the reorganized Jianlong Co. operated steadily and has become an economic growth point. Third, the issue of dispatching Xiamen labors to foreign countries has received attentions from relevant departments and the foreign labor service has developed rapidly.

　3.Trade and economic cooperation with Taiwan continue to grow. In 2001, Xiamen trade (import and export) with Taiwan amounted to USD 1.27 billion, increasing by 6.57% over that of the previous year and accounting for 11.5% of the total import and export value of Xiamen. Of which the export to Taiwan was USD 196 million and the import from Taiwan USD 1,073 million. In order to catch up with the trend of international exhibition and fairs developing towards specialization, high level and high technology, the Fifth Fair of Commodities from Both Sides of the Taiwan Straits (FCBSTS) was officially named as “(Machinery and Electronics) Fair between the Two Sides of the Taiwan Straits”. Compared with the Fourth FCBSTS, great changes took place in the Fifth FCBSTS. First, the fair was transformed from a general fair into a specialized fair in machinery and electronics, from a pure export fair into a fair combining import, export and domestic trade. Second, the proportion of Taiwan enterprises participating in the fair increased. In this fair, over 280 enterprises from Taiwan Island took part, thus the FCBSTS demonstrated its feature of trade with Taiwan. Third, the arrangement of exhibits and exhibition management were upgraded. The grade of exhibiting enterprises and exhibits went up considerably. There were about 1270 international standard booths in the Fifth FCBSTS, exceeding the scale of past fairs. Among the booths, over 400 were taken by enterprises from Taiwan Island. This is the fair in China with largest number of Taiwan participants. During the Fifth FCBSTS, over 6,000 specialized businessmen from at home and abroad came for business talk, of whom over 2,600 were foreign businessmen and over 3,500 were from Taiwan. The total contracted value amounted to USD 0.42 billion, a brilliant success.

　4.The domestic trade maintained a steady growth. The total volume of retail sales in Xiamen in 2001 reached RMB 18,655 million, an increase of 8.31% over that of the previous year. Of which, the total volume of retail sales of the wholesale and retail trade industry was RMB 12,974 million, that of the restaurant industry RMB 2,928 million, and that of the manufacturing industry RMB 818 million, growing by 10.48%, 7.32% and 20.68% over those of the previous year respectively. The direct sale from agricultural producers was RMB 1,084 million, a drop of 20.21% from the previous year, and the sales volume for other industries was RMB 781 million, going up by 20.08% over the previous year. The major characteristics are: First, the market was flourishing, supply was greater than demand and the prices were stable, to the satisfaction of the mass. Second, utilization of foreign investment has produced a desirable effect and the retail industry tend to be diversified. After Beishun and SM, leading enterprises in the world retail industry such as Wal-Mart, Metro and Fushan Chengda (Trustmart) have established their supermarkets in Xiamen, thus promoting the development of modern commerce and innovation of management modes and concepts. The establishment of an office of Carrefour Global Purchase Center provides a channel for Xiamen products to get into the international circulation network. Third, the structure of principal dealers in the consumer goods market has been constantly readjusted and integrated. Non-State-owned economic sector is growing rapidly. According to the statistics, the retail volume of micro businesses, private enterprises, joint ventures and foreign-funded enterprises in Xiamen grew by 11.34%, 37.79%, 53% and 56.54% in 2001 respectively over those of the previous year. The market share of the non-State-owned principal dealers has gone up to 72.79%.

　In the first year of the 10th Five-Year Plan, Xiamen commerce and trade was facing the difficulties of overall slowdown of the world economy, restriction of export to European and American markets, serious lag of export rebates, domestic deflation, greater supply than demand in major commodities. Misfortunes never come singly. The occurrence of September 11 Incident greatly affected foreign trade in the fourth quarter. Under such a grim situation, Xiamen was still able to maintain the momentum of its development. It was a miracle. Our major experience is as follows: 1. Always give the priority to expansion of export and assurance of a steady export growth in our commerce and trade work. 2. Accurate grasp of the situation, attachment of great importance to pertinence and time limit of the policy, relief of the financial pressure from enterprises, particularly the small and medium-sized enterprises, are the important factors contributing to the steady and stable export growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in 2001. 3. Unremittingly emphasize on the environmental construction with a view to enhance competitive edges. In view of the fact that the key environmental factors affecting the commercial and trade competitiveness in 2001 are the environment of “Passage in Broad Sense” and insufficient guideline for export rebates, Xiamen Municipality and Government exerted efforts for coordination between the Customs and trade, taxation authorities and trade, banks and trade, and foreign exchange and trade, and held various seminars and special-topic surveys, thus solving a series of problems in time, relieving the effects of the port and customs system reform on the normal operation of the port, and shortening the running in period. The port and harbor departments have taken dozens of measures to speed up clearance and reduce the production and operation costs of enterprises, enabling Xiamen enterprises to maintain their competitive edges in import and export. 4. Open the door wider with reform, promote development with reform and foster new points of growth. Xiamen exerts greater efforts to attract foreign investment, improve its services for foreign-funded enterprises, encourage foreign-funded enterprises to expand their export, further unlash import-export operations right and exercise the registration system in its true sense. The newly registered import and export enterprises reached 297 in 2001.