The province's annual foreign trade volume climbed 14.1 percent
year-on-year to 540.6 billion yuan in 2020, according to official
statistics.
By improving its opening-up level, the provincial government aims to
increase Anhui's annual foreign trade volume to more than $100 billion
during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.
In recent years, Anhui's imports have been expanding more quickly
than exports, which is not a common phenomenon in the central region.
The province's 2020 import volume saw a year-on-year growth of 15
percent to 224.5 billion yuan, in contrast to the export sector's growth
of 13.5 percent to 316.1 billion yuan, according to the local
government.
Chery Holding Group, holder of Chinese auto brand Chery based in
Wuhu, Anhui, has been one of the largest beneficiaries of the enhanced
opening-up policy.
The company has been exploring two-way trade, a model through which
it exports vehicles overseas before getting other commodities instead of
currency with equivalent value imported to China, since 2019.
Wang Zhibin, who is in charge of Chery's cross-border e-commerce
business, said the group recorded two-way trade volume of about 900
million yuan last year.
"Two-way trade volume has significant room for future growth, as the group exported more than 114,000 vehicles," Wang said.
During a conference on April 1, the Standing Committee of the
Communist Party of China (CPC)Anhui Provincial Committee underlined some
major measures to enhance its contribution to Central China's
high-quality development.
To improve the quality of opening-up, Anhui authorities at the
conference vowed to make full use of the China (Anhui) Pilot Free Trade
Zone, which kicked off in September after receiving approval from the
State Council, and includes areas from the province's cities of Hefei,
Wuhu and Bengbu.
So far, the State Council has given the green light to four of the
six provinces in the central region to establish pilot FTZs as part of
broader steps to expand the region's opening-up.
"The policies of the pilot FTZs could enable Chery to build up its
two-way trade platform to serve more of the province's exporters and
importers and help local manufacturers expand further," Wang said.
Tang said Sinotrans Logistics Central China has also been doing more
import business via contract logistics services for retailers.
"Living in Hefei, I see that imported products have becoming cheaper and more popular for local consumers," Tang added.
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