Nigeria Times

By Luo Shanshan, People’s Daily

A bazaar selling popular foreign products from the annual China International Import Expo (CIIE) is drawing flocks of visitors during the ongoing summer vacation for students across the country.

The bazaar is named the CIIE Bazaar City Arena, located on Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street in east China’s Shanghai. With a floor space of 500 square meters, it houses over 5,000 types of CIIE products and distinctive goods across 25 country-specific pavilions.

“The CIIE-themed bazaar provides us with a great opportunity to bring Sri Lankan specialties to Chinese consumers,” said a staff member working in the Sri Lanka pavilion.

Since its inception in 2018, the annual CIIE has become a crucial platform to promote foreign goods in the Chinese market, leading to a rapid increase in CIIE-featured products adopted by Chinese households.

By increasing imports of high-quality products, China aims to meet people’s desire for a better life and promote industrial upgrading.

In recent years, China has been pursuing high-standard opening up to advance in-depth reform and high-quality development, which involves expanding import channels, lowering import tariffs, and facilitating customs clearance.

In 2023, China remained the world’s second top merchandise importer for the 15th consecutive year with its imports worth $2.56 trillion and its share in the world imports at 10.6 percent.

In the first five months of 2024, the country’s imports hit 7.55 trillion yuan ($1.04 trillion), marking a 6.4 percent year-on-year increase.

Broader import channels: By hosting international exhibitions such as the CIIE and the China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE), and developing cross-border e-commerce, China has opened up more channels to bring in high-quality products from around the world.

“It’s very convenient to buy imported goods from both e-commerce platforms and traditional marketplaces,” said Zhang Yang, a Beijing resident who often purchases imported fruit wines and tea beverages at local shops near his home.

Lower import tariffs: Since January 1 this year, China has further cut its import tariffs by implementing provisional import tariff rates lower than the most-favored-nation rates on 1,010 commodities.

Currently, China’s average import tariff rate is around 7 percent, lower than the 10 percent average import tariff rate of developing countries as shown by statistics from the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Faster customs clearance: On June 1 last year, Shanghai customs authorities launched a pilot reform, merging the Certificate of Importation of Goods with the Inspection Sheet for Imported Vehicles.

This practice has enabled a recent batch of imported vehicles to go through customs procedures more quickly upon their arrival at Shanghai Haitong International Automobile Terminal in Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao port area.

“Previously, we had to obtain the two documents from different customs service windows in sequence,” according to Huang Longwu, manager of the Shanghai logistics center of Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co., Ltd., Beijing.

Now with the requirement of only one document, the process can be completed within half a day, greatly boosting efficiency, Huang added.

China has been opening its door wider and wider to the outside world, welcoming more high-quality products and services to its market.

For instance, China’s Ministry of Commerce and other departments have ramped up efforts to promote reform and opening up in the import sector.  

So far, China has established 43 national demonstration zones for import promotion and innovation, along with multiple platforms for consumer goods imports and trading centers for bulk commodities, fostering in-depth integration of import with industrial development and consumption and effectively stimulating the momentum and potential for import development.

By Ji Juesu, People’s Daily

“Ten more lamb skewers please!” On a Saturday night, laughter and greetings echoed from tents along Dianshan Lake in Qingpu district, east China’s Shanghai.

“Coming right up,” Shi Lina, the campsite manager, shouted back as she cycled around the site to serve customers.

“I feel like I’m about to wear out my bike tires,” she laughed. “But the busier we are, the better!”

In recent years, camping has emerged as a popular lifestyle among Chinese young people, injecting new impetus into consumption.

Diverse activities like flower viewing, fishing, frisbee, and board games, along with breathtaking scenery, are attracting more and more Chinese people to leave the city and embrace nature.

“Before starting my business, I did some research and found that only a small number of experienced campers can skillfully use all the gear. Most of them are newcomers trying it out,” said Shi, explaining why she decided to focus her business on providing one-stop camping services encompassing food, beverages, and recreation.

In the past, people would just pack bread and sandwiches, or self-heating meals at most, before heading out for camping. Today, they prefer freshly made food with a strong emphasis on taste, freshness, and variety, according to Shi. In the initial stage of her business, she put in considerable effort to seek out a professional supplier of catering services for potential cooperation.

“We taste-tested over a dozen, compared round after round, before finally settling on our current supplier,” she said.

The campsite usually pre-orders food ingredients based on the expected number of customers for the following day and gets the grills and stoves ready before their arrival, Shi said.

“When consumers arrive, they can start enjoying a barbecue right away, without the hassle of bringing their own equipment and ingredients,” she said.

The campsite has won a good reputation on social media, as many consumers have posted about their visits, including pictures of the meals and praising comments like “The ingredients are incredibly fresh” and “The servings are so big, we had a wonderful dining experience.”

“Although catering only accounts for one-third of my overall turnover, it plays a crucial role in attracting customers. Good food is the key to popularity after all,” Shi noted.

Many food businesses in China have taken advantage of the camping craze, providing specific services to meet people’s growing appetite for outdoor dining.

For instance, Chinese popular fresh food e-commerce platforms such as Hema Fresh, Dingdong Maicai, and Sam’s Club have launched “camping meal sets”, offering different types of ready-to-cook seafood and marinated meat skewers that perfectly satisfy consumer demands.

Many Chinese restaurants have rolled out semi-finished meal sets composed of ingredients, pre-cooked dishes, cooking utensils, and picnic mats. Consumers can either buy these meal packages on-site or by delivery to their camping sites. The food in those packages can be heated and enjoyed immediately.

“We used to buy ingredients directly from the market, but there were only a few options available, let alone the labor and time costs. Now with more and more professional catering service suppliers providing camping-related products, we offer dozens of product varieties and our customers spend 40 percent more on average, resulting in a 70 percent increase in sales,” said an executive of a campsite in Shanghai.

The camping craze in China has promoted traditional catering businesses to seek new market opportunities.

China’s leading hot pot chain Haidilao has already reaped the benefits from its new camping-themed hot pot services. One such camping-themed restaurant in Hangtou township, Pudong New Area, Shanghai, is very busy on weekends and holidays.

Covering an area of around 60,000 square meters, the venue can accommodate 500 diners, according to Qian Jiangtao, manager of the restaurant.

The camping-themed restaurant is so popular that customers need to make reservations at least a week in advance, Qian said.

“Our restaurant offers fixed meal options. Despite a higher average expenditure per customer than the other outlets, our meal packages include all-day campsite use and many free recreational activities like stove-boiled tea service, bonfire performances, frisbee, and board games, enhancing dining experiences and attracting a wide range of consumers,” Qian explained.

The novel dining trend has also reached Chinese urban areas, with many camping-themed restaurants springing up at shopping mall terraces, building rooftops, and small courtyards since last year.

These restaurants provide a camping experience through their offerings and ambiance, allowing consumers to enjoy urban “picnics” even on workdays.

Now it has become a common scene that several friends gather around a grill under a canopy, relaxing after work.

In the first half of this year, searches for “urban camping-themed restaurants” by Shanghai users surged over 110 percent year on year, according to data from China’s e-commerce platform Meituan.

Besides, there has been a notable rise of over 50 percent in the number of companies offering group-buying deals centered around camping on Meituan, with related orders rising by over 216 percent, as shown by the data.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

In the first six months of this year, China’s economy continued its recovery trend and maintained  steady progress.

On July 16, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released an update to its World Economic Outlook, predicting that China’s economic growth rate will be 5 percent in 2024, an upward revision of 0.4 percentage points from the forecast in April.

The stable operation and long-term positive outlook of the Chinese economy have also boosted confidence in global economic recovery.

The IMF believes that Asia’s emerging market economies, represented by countries including China, remain the main engine of the global economy.

China’s economic growth is not only quantitative but also qualitative.

In the first half of this year, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5 percent year on year to around 61.7 trillion yuan ($8.49 trillion).

During the period, the country’s total retail sales of consumer goods went up 3.7 percent year on year, with retail sales of services expanding 7.5 percent; investment in infrastructure construction rose 5.4 percent from a year ago while manufacturing investment increased 9.5 percent, signaling burgeoning recovery; and the foreign trade reached a new high, with the goods trade volume reaching 21.2 trillion yuan.

From a medium to long-term perspective, the economic fundamentals that sustain China’s long-term growth remain unchanged, and the trend toward high-quality development in China’s economy has not changed.

China continues to be an important engine and stabilizing force for the world economy.

Facing complex and volatile domestic and international environments, China has maintained stable expansion of its economy and pushed forward industrial upgrading and high-quality development in an orderly manner, spurring the pursuit of high value-added and sustainable economic growth.

Positive factors driving China’s economic transformation, upgrading, and high-quality development have continued to accumulate.

For instance, the country’s output of smart and green products, such as integrated circuits, service robots, new energy vehicles, and solar panels has maintained double-digit growth in the first half of this year.

Besides, the emergence of new consumption scenarios spawned by new technologies like big data and artificial intelligence as well as new consumption models has driven an 8.8 percent year-on-year increase in China’s online retail sales of physical goods during the period.

Meanwhile, China’s energy consumption per unit of GDP has continued to decline.

“With the global economy facing uncertainties and challenges, China’s role as a stabilizing force is more crucial than ever,” pointed out a recent article by Zamir Ahmed Awan, founding chair of Pakistani think tank Global Silk Route Research Alliance.

China’s efforts to deepen reforms across the board have injected strong momentum into the country’s high-quality development and pursuit of Chinese modernization.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China has deepened reforms across the board, with efforts concentrated on making reform more systemic, holistic, and coordinated and on stimulating the dynamism, vitality, and potential of high-quality development.

International observers have paid close attention to the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. They believe that China’s economy is undergoing a transition from old to new drivers of growth, and that a smooth transition can be guaranteed by further deepening reforms in a comprehensive manner.

Iqbal Survé, chairman of South Africa’s Independent Media, pointed out that China is building a modern industrial system underpinned by advanced manufacturing and pushing forward reforms, which demonstrates the CPC’s foresight, wisdom, courage, and resolve.

By solidly promoting high-standard opening up, China has opened up vast space for economic development.

During the first six months of this year, China has for the first time released a negative list for cross-border trade in services at the national level, expanded the opening up of value-added telecom services within pilot areas, and introduced new measures to encourage overseas institutions to invest in China’s domestic sci-tech enterprises…

Such policies and measures have demonstrated the country’s resolve to promote reforms and development through opening up.

China is the main trading partner of over 140 countries and regions, with its total volume of foreign trade in goods ranking first globally for seven consecutive years.

China has expanded its circle of friends under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to include more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations, and the China-Europe freight train service now reaches over 200 cities in 25 European countries.

In addition, international exhibitions hosted by the country, such as China International Import Expo, China International Fair for Trade in Services, China International Consumer Products Expo, and China International Supply Chain Expo, have served as win-win platforms for mutually beneficial cooperation across different countries.

A prosperous China not only sustains its own future but also provides opportunities for other countries, said an article published on the website of Argentine newspaper Clarin.

The Chinese economy is overcoming challenges and moving steadily forward along the country’s path of high-quality development, which is a defining feature of Chinese modernization.

Looking forward, China will provide more opportunities for countries worldwide and contribute to the stable and sound development of the global economy as it continuously marches toward modernization.

By Han Xin, People’s Daily

China’s courier sector handled a record number of 80.16 billion parcels during the first six months of 2024, representing a 23.1 percent growth compared to the same period last year, according to data from the country’s State Post Bureau.

The burgeoning courier sector mirrors China’s dynamic development. With efficient logistics services connecting China with the rest of the world, the country has continued to improve its modern distribution system to bolster the vibrancy and resilience of its economic growth.

As China’s economy maintains steady progress, there has been a robust increase in consumer demand, said Wang Yuehan, a researcher with the Development and Research Center of China’s State Post Bureau.

“Thanks to favorable policies to expand domestic demand and stabilize economic growth, China’s courier sector has achieved sound progress since the beginning of this year, contributing to the development of the digital economy and more efficient allocation of products and factors,” Wang said.

In the first half of this year, China’s express delivery market has demonstrated strong vitality, with the highest daily express delivery volume exceeding 580 million pieces.

The rapid growth has driven the sector’s operating revenue to grow by 15.1 percent year on year to 653 billion yuan ($89.83 billion).

China’s courier sector has gained momentum in rural areas with wider service accessibility.

“In the first half of this year, China has been improving its rural logistics system and enhancing the quality of delivery services in rural areas, bringing more rural agricultural products to urban areas and contributing to comprehensive rural revitalization,” said Wang.

Given that Luntai township, Luntai county, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is now in the peak season for marketing small white apricots, ZTO Express, a major express delivery company in China, has launched a new air express service to transport these freshly picked fruits to customers in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, with delivery as early as the next day.

The fast delivery can be attributed to the company’s extensive service network. As of June this year, ZTO Express had expanded its logistics service network to over 176,000 administrative villages across China, an 11.1 percent increase year on year.

Besides, China has rapidly expanded its global logistic services.

Solid strides have been made in developing international logistics hubs. In the first six months of this year, China has made steady progress in building its five international postal and express service hub clusters.

Many regions have also started using or improving overseas warehouses, while the number and size of overseas warehouses run by Chinese companies have been on a steady rise, which all demonstrates the initial results in developing an international logistics hub system.

In the meantime, the country has intensified efforts to build a multidimensional logistics service network for companies seeking a stronger presence in overseas markets.

During the first half of this year, thanks to the continuous enhancement of different cross-border transportation modes, the country has seen a consistent improvement in its international transportation capacity.

For instance, the country’s courier companies are rapidly expanding their all-cargo aircraft fleet, with over 40 international routes already in service.

The transportation of parcels has been facilitated by China-Europe freight trains, and a special freight train service between China and Russia has been launched.

Moreover, shipping routes have been established, connecting Chinese ports to those on the west coast of the United States.

Cross-border service capabilities of Chinese express service providers have been further improved during this period.

For example, Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has set up a dedicated warehouse for the UEFA European Championship (UEFA Euro) to handle parcels from European consumers, allowing for orders made in the morning to be shipped out as early as the same afternoon.

“In the first six months of this year, China has been expanding cross-border courier services in the global market, particularly in areas such as factory logistics, cross-border direct delivery, large-item logistics, and equipment transportation. These efforts have facilitated economic and trade exchanges between China and other countries and broadened growth opportunities for the whole sector,” Wang said.

China’s express delivery market has enjoyed robust growth momentum in the first half of this year. It has pooled resources across different online platforms to address diverse delivery needs, leading to an increase in consumer demand, said an official with China’s State Post Bureau.

The widespread application of intelligent technologies has greatly propelled the development of the country’s courier sector.

JD Logistics, the supply chain arm under Chinese online retailer JD.com, has applied large models to multiple links of express delivery services, including warehousing, sorting, transportation, and distribution. The relevant large models have been used for over 30 million times so far, analyzing and processing over 400 million user addresses.

With the help of technologies powered by artificial intelligence, such as map and speech recognition, couriers of YTO Express Group, a major express delivery firm in China, can use smart outbound call functions to confirm delivery details with consumers in advance.

Chinese courier companies have also installed intelligent monitoring devices and security inspection equipment to boost efficiency and safety in express delivery.

Meanwhile, drones have been used in regular delivery services in multiple scenarios such as crossing seas, traversing mountains, and reaching rural areas, becoming a powerful supplement to last-mile delivery services.

In addition, the supply chain of China’s courier sector is moving toward digital and intelligent transformation, thanks to the application of technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and digital twins.

In the first half of 2024, China’s express delivery sector has seen accelerated scientific and technological research and development.

The industry will continue to foster new growth drivers by promoting data empowerment and cultivating new quality productive forces.