On his first trip abroad in three years, Chen Yuan, a Chinese exporter of computer and phone accessories, made Dubai his first stop."For three years, they haven’t entered China, and we have not gone out," he said."One of the clients was so happy and told me, 'it’s been such a long time since I last saw Chinese faces'."
As China shifts its focus to bringing the economy back on track after its stringent zero-COVID policy came to an abrupt end following, local governments have been flocking to send business delegations overseas, striving to make up for three years of isolation that saw export orders dwindle and foreign investment decline.
By this time of the year, Shen’s factory – which specialises in woollen and cashmere yarn – would usually have received lots of orders, but overseas clients have been slow to place orders this year, making him anxious. In addition to subsidising some flight and hotel expenses, the recent rounds of government-organised trips also guaranteed that visa applications would proceed smoothly and that return flights would be available, which has mattered a lot to those who were considering venturing abroad, exporters said.
Expanding his markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia was Chen’s main goal when he decided to join the delegation organised by the Ningbo government, which arranged meetings with importers and business associations in Dubai and Jakarta.Related:China still requires people arriving from overseas to spend time in hotel quarantine and home isolation, and the number of international flights has yet to return to normal, so those able to travel abroad remain a minority.
"From the top leadership to local governments, export companies are warmly encouraged to travel abroad to attract more export orders," Lu said. "The pace at which this diversification will happen is really directly proportional to further disruptions that we will see in China owing to so many factors like the zero-Covid strategy, further production shutdowns, and rising geopolitical tensions. If these occur faster, the diversification also will follow pace."