At present, foreign trade has made a good start, with planes, trains, and cargo ships loaded with goods rushing to various parts of the world. Among them, many "Made in China" are intermediate goods, which refer to raw materials and components. A journalist investigation found that the global trade focus is shifting from finished products to intermediate goods, and China's intermediate goods trade is growing rapidly.

     At the Chengdu International Railway Port Comprehensive Bonded Zone, 21 boxes of TV movements that have just been taken offline will be transported to Poland, Europe in 12 days via the China Europe freight train.

     Most of the components of these TV movements come from coastal areas, and production of movements and other components is completed in Chengdu. Finally, the assembly of the entire TV set will be completed in a factory in Poland and sent to various European countries to reach consumers.

     Chen Hezhi, General Manager of TCL Optoelectronic Technology (Chengdu) Co., Ltd.: Our shipment volume reached over 5100 containers in 2023, an increase of about 20% compared to 2022.

     This supply chain coordination model has enabled TV sets to achieve localized production in Europe, thereby responding more quickly to market changes in Europe. According to statistics from Chengdu Customs, the import and export of intermediate goods in Sichuan reached 596.57 billion yuan in 2023, accounting for 62.3% of the total import and export value of Sichuan's foreign trade. In the first two months of this year, the import and export of intermediate goods in Sichuan reached 93.67 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.2%.

     In Guangzhou, a company that produces membrane electrodes exports most of its products to Europe, North America, and Asia. Membrane electrodes are the core components of hydrogen fuel cells, mainly composed of membrane materials and vividly referred to as the "heart" of fuel cells. The thinnest proton exchange membrane is only 8 microns.

     In recent years, new energy vehicles have become popular in overseas markets, and the sales of membrane electrodes as core components have also caught fire.

     With high technological content and cost-effectiveness, coupled with close division of labor and cooperation in the global industrial chain, Chinese hydrogen fuel cell membrane electrodes are favored by overseas markets.

     In the first two months of this year, the total import and export value of Guangzhou's foreign trade reached 163.72 billion yuan, an increase of 9.2% compared to the same period last year. During the same period, the import and export of intermediate goods in Guangzhou amounted to approximately 80.32 billion yuan, accounting for 49.1% of the total import and export value. Among them, the export value of intermediate products such as automotive spare parts and flat panel display modules increased by 24.1% and 15.1%, respectively.

     In Foshan, a company that mainly produces industrial and entertainment lighting products mostly sells various types of LED lights overseas, such as headlights, taillights, brake lights, etc. for automotive lighting, with over a hundred types.

     Xu Liuyu, Director of OSRAM (China) Lighting Co., Ltd. Foshan Factory: The company's annual sales revenue is about 5 billion euros, and the Foshan factory increased by about 11% in 2023 compared to 2022. It is mainly sold to more than 100 countries and regions in Europe, North America, including the Asia Pacific region.

     In the first two months of 2024, Foshan's foreign trade imports and exports amounted to RMB 88.3 billion, of which intermediate product exports amounted to RMB 21.41 billion, accounting for 30.2% of the export trade volume.

     Public data shows that China has been the world's largest exporter of intermediate goods for 12 consecutive years, with intermediate goods contributing nearly 60% to the increase in foreign trade. In 2023, China's export of intermediate goods reached 11.24 trillion yuan, accounting for 47.3% of China's total export value. Intermediate goods trade has become a new growth point in China's foreign trade.