On the afternoon of the 11th, Governor Wang Hao presided over the 106th executive meeting of the provincial government to schedule weekly economic operations of our province, and review “Guiding Opinions on High-Quality Development of Global Advanced Manufacturing Base”.

The meeting pointed out that the province’s economy is currently under pressure from various aspects, and with the impact of the “August 2nd” epidemic in Yiwu, we are in a critical period of stabilizing economic progress. Relevant departments in various places must resolutely implement the important instructions on “preventing the epidemic, stabilizing the economy, and developing safely”, and based on the requirements of “a major economic province”, do a good job in various tasks, and make every effort to promote economic recovery and stable development. We must intensify our efforts to tackle tough problems in the industry, find the crux of the problems, implement a more precise and refined plan for each city and each county, and strengthen guidance for key industries and key cities and counties, so as to promote the recovery of the industry vigorously. We must stabilize land prices, housing prices, and expectations, and promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market. We must take multiple measures to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment, and continue to activate domestic demand and expand external demand. We must further ensure energy supply and price stability, do everything possible to meet the electricity demand of residents, agriculture, key industries, and key enterprises, accelerate the construction of major projects such as power supply, power grid, and energy storage, and speed up the formation of an energy mechanism that combines long-term and short-term schedules. We must make take full advantage of the special debt policies and the policy-based financial tools, promptly plan a number of “big high-quality” projects, and further improve effective investment, investment structure and investment efficiency, so as to enhance the stamina of high-quality development.

The meeting pointed out that manufacturing is an important foundation for Zhejiang’s high-quality development of a demonstration zone for common prosperity. On the basis of the “Guiding Opinions on High-Quality Development of Global Advanced Manufacturing Bases”, we must further refine the research on one-to-one policies and form more precise and practicable work measures. We must strengthen policy supply, further increase support for the development of the manufacturing industry, and solidly promote the construction of global advanced manufacturing bases.

The meeting also studied other matters.

With stow net fishing vessels fully prepared to set off for fishing at 12:00 am on August 16th, fresh large yellow croakers, hairy crabs and other seafood will soon be available on the market.

Before the fishing vessels go out to the sea, many restaurants in Hangzhou have already booked seafood in advance and will wait for the goods at the wharves. Dadong, a live streamer at Xiangshan Fishing Port, has received over 70,000 orders for large yellow croakers by hawking before the camera.

The price of the hairy crabs supplied by Wang’s Group will be lowered slightly by 10% this year, as the weight and size of the hairy crabs which are the most favorite by the public, are generally reduced due to high temperature. Wang’s Group offered a lower price for the hairy crabs due to the reduction of cost as a result of improved logistics and its social responsibilities as a sponsor of Hangzhou Asian Games to offer discounts of seafood to Hangzhou citizens.

More trips expected amid high demand for trade resumption: source

A charter flight carrying 107 Indian businessmen arrived in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, on August 9,2022. Photo:Courtesy of China Southern Airlines

A charter flight carrying 107 Indian businessmen arrived in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, on Tuesday evening, marking the second charter flight for international buyers organized by Zhejiang in 2022, and the first business charter flight from India to China.

Over the past two years, flights between China and India have been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors. Indian companies warmly welcomed the charter flights, with many hoping for normal business flights between the two countries, industry insiders said.

A charter flight carrying 107 Indian businessmen arrived in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, on August 9,2022. Photo:Courtesy of China Southern Airlines

Photo:Courtesy of China Southern Airlines

After a “7+3” quarantine, which requires seven days of concentrated quarantine in a dedicated place and three days of self-quarantine at home, those Indian businessmen will head for Zhejiang’s Yiwu, the world capital of small commodities, a source at the Yiwu municipal government told the Global Times on Wednesday.

India is Yiwu’s second-largest export destination. The arrival of this charter flight marked the re-opening of the door for Indian merchants to return to Yiwu for procurement. More than 2,000 Indian merchants reside in Yiwu in the peak period, according to the source.

Hassan, a merchant from India who was on the charter flight, said in a video that he can finally go to Yiwu market and see the products in person, according to a post on the Yiwu government’s WeChat account on Tuesday.

“I set up a foreign trade company in Yiwu in 2003. Considering the needs of Indian customers, we usually place orders only after seeing the objects in person and asking for customization and improvement. As a result, it was difficult to place orders for new products during the outbreak, as we had to be online,” said Hassan.

“I have been doing foreign trade business in Yiwu since 2011 and Yiwu has become my second home. I am really excited to return to Yiwu. I am especially grateful to the Yiwu municipal government for its efforts,” said Mohammed Tabrez Akhtar, who also arrived in Hangzhou on the charter flight.

In 2021, Yiwu’s trade with India reached 17.58 billion yuan ($2.6 billion), with year-on-year growth of 38.5 percent, with exports reaching 16.76 billion yuan, up 33.8 percent, according to statistics from the Commerce Bureau of Yiwu.

Du Yuegang, CEO of Zhejiang Tony Supply Chain Co (Tony International), told the Global Times on Wednesday that preparations for the charter flight were warmly welcomed by the Indian market, and such flights are important for business communication during special periods and can provide an effective path for trade recovery.

Tony International was the leading company in organizing the charter flight. The Yiwu-based supply chain company focusing on China-India trade has provided cross-border shipping service for more than 400 Indian companies in the past 10 years.

“The preparation for the charter flight started in June, and it was initiated by multiple economic administrators in Zhejiang Province. The Yiwu government entrusted us to launch a market survey before the program started. Nearly 400 Indian companies said they were willing to join the program,” said Du.

The CEO is still busy answering phone calls from Indian companies asking about charter flights, as the first one arrived in China on Tuesday.

In view of the high popularity of the first China-India charter flight, the second may be scheduled in early September, and will be open to Chinese businessmen in India, said Du.

According to Du, some Indian clients used to come to Yiwu for business every two or three months before the pandemic.

“Some of the Indian merchants who arrived on the charter flight already have long-stay permits. Some of them got their new business visas valid for three months,” a staffer at the Yiwu Commerce Bureau told the Global Times on Wednesday.

It takes about one month to prepare a charter flight. Since there are COVID-19 flare-ups in Yiwu, foreign businessmen are doing their concentrated quarantine in Hangzhou, according to the staffer.

Sources said that there will be more charter flights in the near future.

The staffer of the Yiwu Commerce Bureau said that a charter flight for South Korean merchants is currently under discussion.

The charter flight from India was operated by China Southern Airlines. The airline efficiently completed preparations for the flight from New Delhi to Hangzhou with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Civil Aviation Administration of China, Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce and Yiwu municipal Bureau of Commerce, according to a statement the company sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

Recently, China Southern Airlines resumed international routes to 27 countries and regions, with the number of international flights rising to 57 per week.

Before the charter flight from India, the first charter flight, which took 163 Pakistani businessmen to Yiwu, landed at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport on July 30.

It was the first charter flight carrying foreign traders to China in 2022, opening a new channel for foreign investors to purchase goods in China amid the epidemic.

Zhejiang Province in early July released an action plan to accelerate the implementation of business charter flights and scheduled flights, in a bid to support and stabilize foreign trade and investment.

Before the pandemic, more than 560,000 foreign businessmen visited Yiwu every year, and more than 15,000 foreign businessmen from more than 100 countries and regions were living in Yiwu, according to official statistics.

Can you imagine the huge space of Zhejiang’s digital economy? The reporter learned from the press conference on Tuesday on “Zhejiang Province Digital Economy Development White Paper (2022)” that Zhejiang aims to build a high ground for digital transformation and plans to achieve a new round of “double growth”. That is, by 2027, the added value of Zhejiang’s digital economy and core industries will exceed 7 trillion yuan and 1.6 trillion yuan respectively.

Today, the digital economy has become the main engine of Zhejiang’s economy. Data shows that in 2021, the province’s digital economy added value reached 3.57 trillion yuan, ranking fourth in the country, doubling from the initial stage of the “13th Five-Year Plan”; accounting for 48.6% of GDP, ranking first in all provinces (autonomous regions) across the country.

2022 is the final year of Zhejiang’s five-year digital economy doubling plan, and the first year of the upgraded version of Zhejiang’s digital economy “Project No. 1”. During this critical period, Zhejiang compiled and released the “White Paper on Zhejiang Province Digital Economy Development” for the first time, summarizing the results of “Project No. 1” and looking forward to future trends in about 70,000 words.

Technological innovation is the primary driving force in creating a high ground for digital transformation. Next, Zhejiang will build a high-level digital technology innovation center with global influence. Specifically, following the “315” major innovation system, it will launch 200 scientific projects in the digital economy every year, and form more than 150 major innovation achievements.

Digital industrialization and industrial digitization are the two major paths for the development of Zhejiang’s digital economy. To this end, Zhejiang will build a high-level national leading area of digital industrialization and a national demonstration area of industrial digital transformation.

On the one hand, through the cultivation of advanced manufacturing clusters, it will strengthen and expand the six 100 billion-level characteristic industrial clusters such as digital security and integrated circuits, so as to build a world-class new generation of information technology industry clusters; On the other hand, it will accelerates the new paradigm of “industrial brain + future factory” integrated development. By 2027, it will build 50 industry brains, and cultivate 100 future factories and 1,200 smart factories, so as to realize full coverage of digital transformation of industrial enterprises above designated size and small and medium-sized enterprises in key sub-sectors, and full coverage of industrial Internet platforms for industrial clusters of more than 10 billion yuan.

To develop the digital economy, institutional change is crucial. Zhejiang will build a high-level national pilot zone in digital economy mechanism innovation to amplify the effect of digital reform and improve the governance capacity of the digital economy.

In addition, Zhejiang will build an emerging financial center with global influence, a global digital trade center, a pilot area for data infrastructure systems, a pilot area for digital empowerment and common prosperity, and a new computing center in the Yangtze River Delta.

The white paper issued by East China’s Zhejiang province recently on the development of its digital economy showed that Hangzhou, the provincial capital, has maintained momentum and led other cities in Zhejiang in digital economic development.

Statistics show that in 2021, the operating revenue and added value of the core industries of the digital economy in Hangzhou reached 1.63 trillion yuan ($241.5 billion) and 490.5 billion yuan, respectively, accounting for 55 percent and 58.8 percent of the provincial total.

The inspiring results are a result of Hangzhou’s efforts in digital innovation, establishing digital industrial clusters, and deepening digital industrial reform.

For example, in pursuit of digital innovation, the Hangzhou West Science and Innovation Corridor has become a source of digital economic innovation. The city is also home to a number of national laboratories and large scientific devices, with some digital technologies having achieved the leap from following to parallel running.

Hangzhou has also formulated the province’s first local regulations for the digital economy – the Hangzhou Smart Economy Promotion Regulations, established the world’s first internet court, pioneered the development of a “health code”, which has become a powerful tool in national epidemic prevention and control work, and took the lead in proposing innovative concepts such as cloud enterprises, future factories, and internet of things in factories.

The 9th International E-business Expo was held in Xiaoshan district, Hangzhou from Aug 3 to 5, local media outlets reported.

Themed around New E-commerce, New Pattern, and New Advantages, the expo was participated in by over 300 fashion, new retail sale, and cosmetics brands, as well as a number of multi-channel network companies, livestream hosts, online platforms, and livestream service providers seeking new business opportunities.

Xiaoshan, a district with distinctive e-commerce capabilities, worked together with the industrial giant Alibaba on a local agricultural product booth at the expo.

“We’ve received quite a large number of livestream hosts, factories and distributors for business cooperation,” said a staff member at the booth. “We will continue to screen cooperation partners after the expo and strive to have agricultural products from Xiaoshan reach out to customers in more remote areas.”

Xiaoshan district and Alibaba have in recent years enjoyed cooperative ties in online agricultural product businesses. Their platform has resulted in more than 100 enterprises setting up operations in the district, generating total sales revenue of over 50 million yuan ($7.41 million).

Statistics show that Xiaoshan registered online retail sales revenue of 136.37 billion yuan in 2021, growing 5.5 percent year on year.