Under the China &United States tariff game, a small town in Guangxi has gone crazy with exports

On May 12th, China and the United Statesreleased the Joint Statement on the Geneva Economic and Trade Talks, wheresubstantive progress was made and both sides agreed to significantly reducebilateral tariff levels.

The early resumption of foreign tradebetween China and the United States is not only in the interests of bothcountries, but also in line with global expectations.

The substantial progress made in the tariffgame between China and the United States so quickly is closely related toChina's ability to withstand pressure and choose firmness.

Data shows that in the first quarter ofthis year, China's import and export of goods reached 10.3 trillion yuan, ayear-on-year increase of 1.3%. In the first four months, China's total importand export value of goods trade was 1.414 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.4%.

A smooth start is not easy.

The list of the top 50 cities in China'sforeign trade for the first quarter has been released, with a total import andexport volume of 8.29 trillion yuan, accounting for 80% of the national share,which can be regarded as the basic foundation of China's foreign trade.

Among 50 cities, 36 achieved an increase intotal import and export volume, demonstrating the strong resilience of China'sforeign trade.

Among them, Fangchenggang City in Guangxihas achieved outstanding results.

In the first quarter, the total import andexport volume of foreign trade in Fangchenggang was 36.01 billion yuan, ayear-on-year increase of 58.9%.

The export value reached 14.44 billionyuan, a surge of 429.1%!

The export growth rates of Shanghai,Suzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan, Wenzhou, Lianyungang, Fangchenggang, and Shenyang in thefirst quarter

This small town with a population of onlyover one million has gone crazy in terms of exports.

Two years ago, the foreign trade ofFangchenggang entered the "highway".

In 2023, the total import and export volumewill exceed 100 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.9%, making it thethird prefecture level city in Guangxi with a foreign trade scale of 100billion yuan.

In 2024, the total import and export volumereached 128.21 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.6%, surpassing the120 billion yuan mark for the first time.

Why is the foreign trade in Fangchenggangso fierce?

In 2020, the total import and export volumebetween China and ASEAN reached 4.74 trillion yuan.

This marks the first time that ASEAN hassurpassed the European Union to become the largest trading partner in goods.

By 2024, ASEAN has been China's largesttrading partner for four consecutive years.

The increasingly close economic, trade, andindustrial cooperation between China and ASEAN has made the port cities thatconnect with ASEAN the biggest beneficiaries.

The regional advantage of Fangchenggang ishighlighted.

Fangchenggang is located in the southernpart of Guangxi, on the banks of the Beibu Gulf, and its uniqueness lies in:

The land and sea ports are closelydistributed, making it the second most populous city in Guangxi; Along thecoast and border, it is the only border city in China that is connected toASEAN by sea, land, and river; Bordering Vietnam, it is the nearest port cityin Chinese Mainland to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

At the same time, through the integrationof Qinbei defense, Fangchenggang connects inland cities such as Nanning,Chongqing, and Chengdu, becoming an important node in the western land sea newchannel.

With its unique geographical location,Fangchenggang City has become the most convenient gateway and main channel forChina's land transportation to ASEAN.

In order to enhance its geographicaladvantage, Fangchenggang has strengthened its software and hardwareconstruction.

A major foreign trade city requires a largeport.

Ports are the hub connecting land and sea,and the driving force behind the development of the maritime economy.

Fangchenggang Port is the first billion tonport in western China.

Since breaking through the billion ton markfor the first time in 2012, it has been breaking through the billion ton markfor 11 consecutive years.

At present, Fangcheng Port has built 59berths of over 10000 tons, and has established trade and navigation with morethan 250 ports in over 100 countries and regions around the world.

This is the largest sulfur transfer andphosphoric acid export port in China, as well as a transfer base for importantstrategic materials such as iron ore, coal, grain, and fertilizers. It is alsoa transfer center for energy and raw materials in southern China.

The three-dimensional transportationnetwork of railways, highways, and aviation is also constantly improving,making every effort to connect the "Ren Du Er Mai" of opening up tothe outside world.

On April 15th of this year, a railway seaintermodal train loaded with 2688 tons of fertilizer departed from the GuizhouGuiyang South Station marshalling yard and sailed to Fangchenggang, takingabout 5 days to arrive in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, covering atotal distance of about 2500 kilometers.

The Southeast Asian market has a strongdemand for Chinese fertilizers, agricultural products, and other products, butin the past, scattered goods had to be labeled multiple times, making itdifficult to control timeliness and costs.

The rail sea intermodal train fromFangchenggang to Guiyang adopts fixed time, fixed route, and fixed trainnumber, which not only saves transportation time and cost, but also greatlyimproves the stability of operation, providing better cross-bordertransportation guarantee for foreign trade enterprises in the southwest region.

The quality of service depends onefficiency

In terms of software, Fangchenggangcontinues to optimize its business environment.

Fangcheng Customs has achieved a 40%increase in clearance efficiency for bulk commodities through the applicationof digital scenarios such as "Smart Inspection" and "SmartAnimal and Plant Inspection".

Dongxing Customs has innovated the"whole in, whole out" mode for imported goods in the mutual market,compressing the clearance time for single invoice goods in border trade to 15minutes.

The Fangchenggang Maritime Bureau hasimplemented a "one-stop" government approval system, which hasincreased the efficiency of ship entry and exit scheduling by 30%.

With unique natural conditions, ASEANcountries are rich in tropical fruits, while China has a huge consumer market,forming a highly complementary trade relationship between the two sides.

Fruits have become an important tradecommodity between China and ASEAN.

According to the Global Tariffs and TradeDatabase (GTA), in 2024, Thailand alone exported fresh durians worth a total of3.75 billion US dollars to China.

In order to promote fruit and vegetabletrade, Fangchenggang City has established the Southeast Asia Fruit andVegetable Supply Chain Professional Committee of Fangchenggang InternationalChamber of Commerce, which provides a more convenient cooperation platform forthe full industry chain interconnection of fruits, vegetables and otheragricultural products between China and ASEAN countries.

At present, the value of purchasing fruitsfrom ASEAN countries through this channel has reached 1.5 billion yuan.

With the dual advantages of "borderand seaport", Fangchenggang is becoming the core pivot of bilateral tradebetween China and ASEAN.

In 2024, the import and export ofFangchenggang City to ASEAN reached 47.31 billion yuan, an increase of 31.9%,accounting for 40% of the annual foreign trade.

Faced with the high growth of foreigntrade, Fangchenggang City did not immerse itself in its achievements and becamecomplacent. Instead, it became aware of its own shortcomings and bottlenecks.

On the one hand, foreign trade is easilyaffected by factors such as the global economic situation, political situation,and trade frictions, and the ability to resist risks urgently needs to beimproved.

On the other hand, the transit trade modelrelying solely on port distribution has low added value and poor driving force,making it difficult to form industrial agglomeration effects.

According to data, the cargo throughput ofFangcheng Port in 2023 is 194 million tons, but over 70% of them are transitcommodities (including coal, metal ores, and steel), and the local processingconversion rate is less than 30%.

Anchoring the strategic goal of a modernindustrial city near the port, Fangchenggang vigorously develops industry witha clear banner. By extending the commodity industry chain, it promotes theextension of resources such as coal, steel, and non-ferrous metals to deepprocessing links, and accelerates the development of industries such asbiomedicine, electronic information, and high-end equipment manufacturing.

The most typical example is theFangchenggang Port Ecological Aluminum Industry Chain Project.

The total investment of the project is 20billion yuan. Using imported bauxite from overseas as raw material, aproduction line with an annual output of 2.4 million tons of alumina will bebuilt, along with a red mud storage yard and related auxiliary facilities. Theproject will also construct high-precision power battery aluminum foil blankswith an annual output of 300000 tons, battery foil with an annual output of50000 tons, high-purity aluminum with an annual output of 100000 tons,electronic aluminum foil with an annual output of 50000 tons, and compositematerials for automotive radiators with an annual output of 500000 tons.

The project started construction inDecember 2024 and will form a complete industrial chain of "overseasmineral sources alumina aluminum based new materials" after completion andoperation, with an expected annual output value of 34 billion yuan.

By undertaking global elements throughlocal manufacturing, the foreign trade economy of Fangchenggang has trulyrooted in the land, greatly enhancing the driving force and resilience of urbandevelopment.

In 2024, the added value of industriesabove designated size in Fangchenggang increased by 10.1%, maintainingdouble-digit growth for four consecutive years.

Driven by both foreign trade and industry,Fangchenggang's GDP growth rate has ranked first in Guangxi for two consecutiveyears!

The transformation practice ofFangchenggang from "eating at the port" to "developingproduction through the port" confirms that only by transforming the"flow advantage" of port throughput into the "energyadvantage" of industrial clusters can we build a solid foundation fordevelopment in the global industrial chain reconstruction.

This is a breakthrough for Fangchenggangand also a trump card for China to cope with global trade turbulence.