Guizhou identifies top hubs for foreign trade

The commerce department of Southwest China's Guizhou province recently released a list of eight provincial bases that are excelling in the upgrading and transformation of their foreign trade. The list is as follows:

Guiyang Free Trade Zone, founded in 2014, is the first of its kind in Guizhou. Grasping the opportunities presented by the establishment of a comprehensive pilot area for cross-border e-commerce, the zone has built a bonded shopping plaza – selling products from all over the world – to meet expanding local retail demand.

Meitan county in Zunyi city in Guizhou boasts 600,000 mu (40,000 hectares) of standardized tea gardens. By regularizing tea garden management, production and tea marketing, Meitan was ranked first among China's top 100 counties for the tea sector in 2020 and was first among China's top 10 counties for tea industry development during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period.

Dushan Economic and Technological Development Zone in Qiannan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture was established in 2010 and upgraded to the provincial level in 2012.

The zone focuses on new energy materials, equipment manufacturing, commerce and logistics, labor -intensive industries and advanced technologies. In 2017-2020, the zone reported total foreign trade worth an estimated $325.79 million.

Duyun city is a core production hub for Maojian tea in Guizhou. The city's total value of brands with a Maojian tea geographical indication is 21.15 billion yuan ($3.31 billion), ranking it second in all tea categories.

Dalong Economic and Technological Development Zone in Tongren city in Guizhou has a 20 percent share of the market for ternary precursors, a cathode material used to produce lithium batteries. It also has an estimated one third of the world's sales volumes for barium carbonate and cesium carbonate, as well as more than 10 percent of China's market share for graphite powders, which is an anode material for lithium batteries.

Cengong Economic and Technological Development Zone in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture is planning to roll out cigarette lighter manufacturing industrial parks and aims to produce 5 billion cigarette lighters per year, to become China's largest lighter R&D and production hub.

Panzhou city has focused on developing cili or roxburgh rose production in recent years.

Cili is a plant rich in tannins, vitamins and minerals, that is used as a Chinese medicinal remedy for a variety of diseases and conditions.

In 2021, Panzhou's total cili planting area covers more than 600,000 mu, accounting for one third of Guizhou's total. This year's annual cili production volume is expected to exceed 40,000 metric tons and generate revenue of 160 million yuan, benefiting 170,000 farmer households.

Jinsha economic and technological development zone in Bijie city is home to 121 companies involved in electronic product processing, food manufacturing, baijiu production and construction materials.

In the first eight months of the year, the zone reported total output value of 4.26 billion yuan in industries above a designated size, an increase of 46.9 percent year-on-year.