The latest news from Ningbo Customs confirmed that last year's city's foreign trade import and export totaled US$82.904 billion, ranking among the “Top Ten Nationalities” for the first time. The city’s 1/3 employed population is related to foreign trade, and both have reached the level of developed countries such as Japan and Italy.

According to the Ministry of Commerce’s ranking of 36 provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions, and cities under separate planning, Ningbo’s total import and export volume has surpassed Tianjin and Liaoning, ranking ninth in the country and second in the city planning separately.

Why Ningbo "Foreign Trade Carrier" is getting faster and faster? Qiu Zhiming, president of Beifa Group, which started as a foreign trade, remembers clearly that in April 1993, when he first participated in the Canton Fair, he was carrying out a box of ballpoint pens packed in simple wooden boxes to “plot” at the stairs of the exhibition hall. At that time, the first foreign trade order he got was only 20,000 U.S. dollars. Today, Beifa Group has become China's largest and third-largest pen-making company in the world. The export of Beifa pen has already exceeded 100 million U.S. dollars.

Like Qiu Zhiming’s foreign trade complex, Ningbo’s tens of thousands of companies started from foreign trade.

Ten years ago, Ninghai farmers chartered to participate in the Canton Fair. Last year, the 50 self-operated foreign trade exports of the 50 enterprises they owned had reached US$162 million, which accounted for half of the total output value of local foreign trade companies. When they participated in the Canton Fair again last year, they were able to make business talks with foreign businessmen.

During this period, "Made in Ningbo" has changed from "Ningbo Creativity" to "Ningbo Zhizhi" to get rid of simple copying and to increase the added value of export products. The products they bring are getting lighter and lighter, and their added value is getting higher and higher.

Ningbo’s foreign trade exports are praised as a line (“Dunhuang Brand” polyester sewing thread), a pen (“Baifa Brand”, “Rongcheng Brand” ballpoint pen), a ruler (“Great Wall Brand” tape measure), and a battery ("Shuanglu" battery) and an injection molding machine ("Haitian" injection molding machine) are all famous "export champions" in the country. Similarly, Ningbo produces drinking fountains, electric irons, hair dryers, heaters, twin-cylinder washing machines, power outlets, etc., and is also a national singles champion.

At present, at least US$5.5 per US$100 “Made in China” exports are sold by Ningboers.

In fact, the contribution of foreign trade to Ningbo's economy is increasing day by day. “According to the internationally accepted method, each export of 100 million U.S. dollars of products can provide employment opportunities for 10,000 people in China. According to last year's export of 51.96 billion U.S. dollars, it means that more than 5.2 million jobs can be provided. Now every 3 Among the employed Ningbo people, 1 person is directly related to the foreign trade industry, said Ding Haibin, a spokesperson for the Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau.