Jilin eyes stable foreign trade growth in 2024

Technicians carry out quality tests on vehicles at Hongqi's manufacturing base in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin province, in July. ZHANG NAN/XINHUA

Jilin province in Northeast China is expected to see stable growth in foreign trade this year, driven by deepening business ties between China and Russia, surging trade volume facilitated by cross-border e-commerce, and the nation's thriving automobile industry, said government officials and trade analysts on Wednesday.

The optimism has been fueled by Jilin's remarkable performance in foreign trade last year, with the province achieving a record 167.91 billion yuan ($23.38 billion) in total exports and imports.

This marked a year-on-year growth of 7.7 percent, ranking it ninth in China in terms of growth rates, data from Changchun Customs showed.

Jilin's vehicle exports achieved a notable milestone in 2023 with a year-on-year surge of 158.3 percent.

Jilin's foreign trade with Russia will accelerate this year, pushed by fast-growing cross-border e-commerce business between China and Russia, Russia's soaring demand for Chinese industrial goods such as vehicles, manufacturing equipment, garments and textile products, as well as the two countries' complementary trade structure, said Ding Yibing, dean of the School of Economics at Jilin University in Changchun, the provincial capital.

Jilin had a trade volume of 29.73 billion yuan with Russia in 2023, a year-on-year growth of 71.5 percent and accounting for 17.7 percent of its total foreign trade, according to Changchun Customs.

Meanwhile, Jilin's exports of automobiles to Russia reached 57,000 units, a significant increase of 655.8 percent year-on-year. Its total sales value was 13.08 billion yuan, marking a growth of 475.4 percent on a yearly basis.

Eager to further enrich its trade ties with Russia, Hunchun, a border city in Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture in Jilin, has opened multiple cross-border transportation routes through seaports such as Vladivostok and Slavyanka in Russia, and launched new foreign trade formats such as used car exports and market procurement trade with Russia since last year.

In 2023, the cross-border e-commerce import and export trade value in Hunchun reached 5.1 billion yuan, a 44 percent growth year-on-year, securing its position as the top land border port in the country for trade with Russia.

Lyu Jiwei, deputy director of Jilin's provincial department of commerce, said the government will take new measures to expand vehicle exports and related components this year.

"Jilin will focus on promoting industrial agglomeration and accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system through the strategic layout of the auto industrial chain," he said.

By embracing a green development concept, the province aims to activate and expand new growth drivers, further advancing the high-quality development of its traditional industrial bases, he added.

Jilin boasts a well-developed processing and manufacturing sector, thanks to its favorable environment for revitalizing its old industrial base.

Li Dongchun, head of Xinglong Customs, a branch of Jilin Customs, said local Customs authorities will guide auto parts manufacturers and logistics companies in making the best use of the preferential policies in Customs special supervision areas and help exporters save on operational costs.

After seeing its sales grow by 8.8 percent year-on-year to 3.37 million vehicles in both the domestic and global markets last year, China FAW Group Corp Ltd, a Changchun-headquartered automaker, plans to export 158,000 vehicles in 2024, according to the group's website.

China FAW Group's high-end EV brand Hongqi has successfully entered countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Norway in recent years.