Domestic market a golden opportunity

Customers are attracted by a promotional activity for discounted foreign trade goods in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, on April 26. (ZHUANG WENBIN/FOR CHINA DAILY)

China has rolled out a set of measures to help foreign trade companies expand into the giant domestic market to hedge against uncertainties of foreign business.

For China's exporters, switching to sell in the domestic market comes along with challenges, including adapting to different standard and price systems and domestic consumer preferences.

However, China wields great power in tackling trade pressure as it has a huge domestic market with 1.4 billion potential consumers.

To help smooth the transition, the Ministry of Commerce, together with local governments and multiple enterprises, has been taking intensive actions to help foreign trade firms alleviate operational pressures since April.

"The Ministry of Commerce will focus on helping 10 major provinces in foreign trade and consumption, and carry out a series of special matchmaking activities around key industries," said Sheng Qiuping, vice-minister of commerce, during a recent conference.

So far, the activities have been launched in provinces such as Jiangsu, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan and Shandong. The events have mainly focused on helping industries with foreign trade advantages like light industry, household appliance, furniture and home furnishings, and food, according to the commerce ministry.

"As the world's second-largest consumption market, China has the largest middle-income group in the world, with stable growth in investment and consumption and enormous potential," said Xu Man, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Multiple domestic online and offline retailers such as JD, Alibaba's online trading platform 1688, as well as Yonghui Superstores, said they would like to provide more domestic sales channels for foreign trade firms facing export obstacles.

For instance, 1688 said for foreign trade companies with inventory backlogs, the platform will provide sales assistance services and reduce commissions, and those companies can also negotiate a cooperation model with the platform.