Foreign trade enterprises are proving themselves resilient after having been firmly supported in Zhuhai by policy, technological innovation, online platforms, and logistics advantages throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Confidence prevails in new opportunities although the city's foreign trade value was 34.3 billion yuan ($4.8 billion) in January and February, a year-on-year decrease of 19 percent. The export value plummeted by 20.5 percent to 18.47 billion yuan ($2.6 billion), while the import value dropped by 17.3 percent to 15.84 billion yuan ($2.2 billion).

In response, on March 11 the Zhuhai government issued the Implementation Opinion of Effectively Lowering Epidemic Impacts & Promoting Economic Stability, plus seven supportive measures covering investment, manufacture, increased consumption, financial support, recruitment, and employment.

To date, more than 90 percent of local foreign trade enterprises and 505 out of 509 foreign-funded manufacturing enterprises above designated size have resumed operations. All top 50 foreign trade enterprises in the city are back at work.

Gree Electric Appliances in Qianshan [File Photo]

Xiangzhou-based household appliance giant Gree Electric Appliances undertook a mass production of face masks with automatic equipment amid the global shortage of anti-epidemic materials. Its new anti-virus air purifier, which claims to be capable of eradicating 99 percent of the novel coronavirus in a room within an hour, is exported to over 30 countries and regions including the UK, US, Italy, and Australia. 

The epidemic has brought about many challenges to be faced. In such a critical moment, the significance of mastering core technology has been accentuated, said Dong Mingzhu, chairwomen of Gree Electric Appliances.

An executive of the Zhuhai Chamber of Commerce of Importers & Exporters said the organization will help local foreign trade enterprises seize business opportunities in online exhibitions and trade platforms such as the 127th China Import & Export Fair (Canton Fair) scheduled for late June.

Moreover, the city's international trade distribution business is expected to prosper relying on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB). With the launch of China's inaugural customs-supervised 9610-coded bonded site, the first cross-border e-commerce retail exports to Hong Kong and Macao were inspected and released at HZMB Zhuhai Port on March 20.

On the other side, 11 projects, each with a contractual value of more than $10 million, settled in Zhuhai in the first quarter of this year, bringing in total foreign investment of $1.86 billion. Thirty-one key industrial projects each with an investment of over 100 million yuan ($14 million) have signed agreements for settlement, including seven projects each with an investment exceeding 1 billion yuan ($141 million), according to an official with the Zhuhai Bureau of Commerce.