China exporters have been actively seeking new opportunities to tap into global markets by accelerating the layout of international production and sales channels to offset tariff impacts.
Two major trade fairs -- the Canton Fair and the China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) -- serve as key platforms for businesses to seek opportunities beyond traditional markets like the United States.
The booths of this year's Canton Fair are highly sought after among Chinese exporters hoping to build new business relationship in alternative markets.
"We will surely expand our markets abroad besides the United States. This product is a key focus at present. It has up-to-date functions. Clients from Poland and the Netherlands wanted to sign an exclusive distribution agreement with us right here," said Tang Shousheng, an exhibitor.
Beyond sales expansion, Chinese exporters are also investing in overseas production facilities to strengthen their presence in global markets.
"We plan to invest 10 million yuan (about 1.37 million U.S. dollars) in building overseas factories. In fact, we have already found local suppliers for essential components such as plastics, SMT (surface-mount technology) patches, and packaging materials like color boxes," said Huang Shuyu, an exhibitor.
At the just-concluded CICPE, many Chinese exporters try to diversify their brands and supply chains, hoping to ensure they remain resilient in an unpredictable trade environment.
Some businesses are introducing proprietary brands tailored to specific international markets, and to expand their domestic market sharing.
"We started to launch our own brands last year, and these products have performed very well in the Russian market," said Ran Yan, an exhibitor.
"Our core technologies are self-developed. Right now, the domestic market is the world's largest consumption market in terms of energy storage, and we are confident about the domestic market and our products," said An Dapeng, another exhibitor.
Despite of trade disruptions, many exhibiting businesses remain committed to global expansion.
"We have not given up the global industrial layout in terms of our overall brand strategy," said Li Rongsheng, also an exhibitor.
The Canton Fair kicked off on Tuesday. Running from April 15 to May 5 in the southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, this edition of the fair has attracted about 31,000 participating firms, up by nearly 900 compared with the previous one.
The fifth China International Consumer Products Expo took place in Haikou City of China's southernmost island province of Hainan from April 13 to 18. It drew a record participation of over 4,100 brands across 71 countries and regions.
Chinese exporters expand global markets to offset tariff impacts
The fast expansion in China's total social financing, a broad measure of credit and liquidity in the economy, indicates that the country's financing activity is gathering steam and the government's pro-growth policies are gaining traction in bolstering the real economy, said two Chinese experts.
According to data released on Wednesday by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank, China's outstanding aggregate social financing totaled 424 trillion yuan (about 58.8 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of April, increasing by 8.7 percent from the same period last year and quickening from the 8.4-percent rise in March. In the first four months, the newly added amount of financing to the real economy stood at 16.34 trillion yuan, up by 3.61 trillion yuan from the corresponding period of 2024.
Analysts said that accelerated government bond issuance aimed at boosting the economy drove the growth of total social financing.
"The issuance of government bonds has significantly accelerated this year. Among them, the issuance of ultra-long special treasury bonds and special treasury bonds for capital injection [into central financial institutions] launched in April, coupled with the continued rollout of special refinancing bond issuance for local governments, led to about 970 billion yuan in net financing, driving a growth rate of nearly 0.3 percentage points in total social financing," said Dong Ximiao, chief researcher at the Merchants Union Consumer Finance.
"This year's issuance of ultra-long special treasury bonds was launched one month earlier than last year, and together with credit loans, it has been the main driving force for the growth of social financing. Corporate bond financing has been growing steadily and equity financing has been steadily advancing, indicating an increasing role of the capital market in bolstering the real economy," said Lu Zhe, chief economist at the Soochow Securities.
According to this year's government work report, a total of 1.3 trillion yuan of ultra-long special treasury bonds will be issued, 300 billion yuan more than in 2024, while 500 billion yuan of special treasury bonds will be issued to support large state-owned commercial banks in replenishing capital.
Late last month, China issued this year's first batches of ultra-long special treasury bonds and special treasury bonds.
Part of the funds have been swiftly channeled into boosting consumer demand, a key focus in the country's efforts to spur economic growth.
"The Ministry of Finance has recently launched the issuance of 1.3 trillion yuan of ultra-long special treasury bonds to promote large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins and to help implement major national strategies and enhance security capacity in key areas. We expect a fast rollout of special treasury bond issuance in the coming months to drive domestic demand, boost public confidence, and provide strong support for social financing," Dong said.
Fast growth in aggregate social financing indicates gov't efforts to spur economy paying off
