Editor’s Note
This article outlines the State Council’s approval of a comprehensive plan to deepen reform in Yiwu, China’s renowned wholesale hub. The initiative aims to address systemic challenges and bolster the city’s role in international trade, signaling a significant step in its economic development.
The world’s largest wholesale hub for small manufactured items is expected to be enhanced as a symbol for international trade following the State Council’s approval of plans to more comprehensively deepen and reform its development.
Yiwu, a small city in China’s Zhejiang province known for funneling huge quantities of dollar-store products to the West, will undergo efforts to resolve deep-rooted institutional problems, strengthen the building of integrated standards of domestic and foreign trade, and promote greater cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.
Specific items on the deepening-development list included maximizing the function of tariff-free zones, reforming procurement systems, proactively connecting to international trade standards, improving management of export companies’ categorization, and building 100 good-quality international trade corporations.
Yiwu saw its total trade value reach 560.2 billion yuan (US$77 billion) in the first 10 months of this year – 18.3 per cent more than the same period last year, according to customs figures.
The deepening-development plan will also support the high-quality development of China-Europe express trains to enhance the circulation of goods.