In the first quarter of this year, China's imports and exports of goods both achieved double-digit growth, demonstrating the strong resilience and vitality of China's foreign trade. Since the beginning of the year, foreign traders have been tirelessly exploring overseas markets; Innovation is not limited in the laboratory, upgrading and iterating product technology; From the Consumer Expo to the Canton Fair, "Buy Global" and "Sell Global" are advancing together... Faced with the volatile external environment, China's foreign trade is breaking through the waves and making steady progress. Recently, reporters visited multiple provinces and cities from the southeast coast to the western inland, exploring China's path from being a "world factory" to a "global market". In the laboratory of Thunderbird Innovation Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. in Nanshan, Shenzhen, engineers are focusing on debugging the AR (Augmented Reality) glasses that are about to be exported, with the export structure moving towards novelty, greenness, and intelligence. Targeting industrial maintenance personnel, able to overlay internal structural diagrams of equipment and provide detailed guidance on disassembly and assembly; Facing couriers, it can display delivery information at any time and provide real-time guidance... Chen Junbin, the person in charge of Thunderbird Innovation, recounted the landing cases of the company's AR glasses in industries, logistics, and other fields. With our independently developed core technology, our products were sold out on Amazon sites in multiple European countries within two weeks of launch, and sales in the first quarter increased nearly four times year-on-year. ”He said. Reporters found that in the face of a complex and severe external environment, many foreign trade enterprises have increased their research and development innovation, actively responding to multiple challenges such as rising production costs and fierce market competition with products with high added value and differentiation advantages. In the first quarter, China's total import and export volume exceeded 11 trillion yuan, setting a new historical high for the same period, and the quarterly growth rate was also the highest in nearly five years. Among them, the export proportion of electromechanical products exceeded 60%, and the export of green products such as electric vehicles, lithium batteries, wind turbines and their components increased by 77.5%, 50.4% and 45.2% year-on-year, respectively. At the Changan Intelligent Automobile Factory in Liangjiang New District, Chongqing, one complete vehicle is produced every minute, and each production line can complete the process conversion required for different vehicle models within 6 seconds. Changan Automobile invests 5% of its annual revenue in research and development, building a global R&D layout in six countries and ten regions, as well as a huge matrix of more than 200 laboratories, efficiently meeting the customized production needs of multiple versions in overseas markets. ”Yu Qinghua, General Manager of Overseas Marketing at Changan Automobile's Deep Blue, said that in the first quarter, Deep Blue's overseas orders reached 13500 units, a year-on-year increase of 85.4%. The rise of green products signifies that China's foreign trade is shifting from price competition to technology and standard competition, becoming an important engine driving foreign trade growth. ”Zhao Fujun, Director of the Comprehensive Research Office of the Foreign Economic Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said. From the busiest production lines in factory parks to the hottest exhibition areas at trade shows, it is not difficult to see that China's export "main force" has shifted from traditional products such as clothing and toys to products with higher "intelligence content". At the 139th Canton Fair, a woman with lower limb walking difficulties tried out an exoskeleton robot at the booth of Hangzhou Taixi Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. She walked with maximum power mode, and her friend was overjoyed to see such a scene. The brand leader introduced that this device captures human motion intentions through multiple sensors, providing assistance for people with lower limb weakness. It is reported that during the first offline exhibition period from April 15th to 19th, more than 100 exoskeleton robots have been sold, with thousands of intended orders. Customers mainly come from North America, Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia and other places. The reporter observed that China's export engine is shifting towards selling technology, standards, services, precision, design, and delivery. Not long ago, Beijing Jizhijia Technology Co., Ltd. launched a new generation of container to human robot picking solution, relying on embodied intelligent technology to achieve unmanned operation of the entire process from storage, handling to picking of warehouse containers. The innovative momentum of the deep integration of advanced manufacturing and modern service industries is fully demonstrated in this intelligent warehousing and logistics robot enterprise. Its series of intelligent picking, handling and other warehousing and logistics robots have been exported to more than 40 countries around the world and provide personalized robot solutions for customers in different fields such as retail circulation and industrial manufacturing. Warehouse logistics robots are a typical heavy technology, heavy delivery, and heavy service industry, not a one-time deal. ”Zheng Yong, founder and CEO of Jizhijia, said that the company has established a localized service network covering more than 40 countries, with a global customer repurchase rate of up to 78%. The Financial Times article points out that China's foreign trade structure is undergoing new changes. Compared to the simple export of goods in the past, the proportion of technology, digital systems, and supporting services in foreign trade is gradually increasing. In less than two months since the opening of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, Chinese foreign trade enterprises have already entered the fast lane of the event economy, with strong vitality in the main body and wide market layout. This batch of football is an order from Peru in South America, and we have shipped nearly 150000 units of this one model alone. ”Wu Xiaoming, the person in charge of Yiwu Aokai Sports Goods Co., Ltd., said that in order to "sprint" for the World Cup orders, the company's assembly line runs 24 hours a day, and the daily production has exceeded 4000. According to statistics from Yiwu Customs, Yiwu exported sports goods and equipment worth 2.83 billion yuan in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 12%. In markets and exhibitions, businesses use artificial intelligence technology to switch languages from various countries to live stream sales and negotiate orders with global merchants; In the factory park, engineers repeatedly adjust parameters to meet strict European standards, and the workshop lights up to speed up urgent orders from Africa; Many business leaders are busy on their way to the exhibition or catch a flight... During the interview, the reporter truly felt that the hard work, enthusiasm, and perseverance of various business entities have converged into a strong driving force for China's foreign trade to overcome difficulties. In the first quarter, there were 618000 enterprises with import and export records in China, including over 540000 private enterprises, with an import and export volume of 6.78 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.2%, and a further increase in the proportion of China's total import and export value to 57.3%; During the same period, the import and export of foreign-invested enterprises increased by 16.1% year-on-year, achieving growth for eight consecutive quarters. After the end of the first phase of the Canton Fair, the team of Guangzhou Dayun Motorcycle Co., Ltd., a professional motorcycle production enterprise integrating research and development, manufacturing, sales, service, and import and export trade, rushed back to the factory with an intention order of 20 million yuan without stopping. This is a foreign trade enterprise mainly targeting the Middle East market. The Minister of the International Trade Department of Dayun Motorcycle, Bie Libo, said that the obstruction of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has led to a significant increase in operating costs for the enterprise, and the transportation cycle has also been significantly extended. At this Canton Fair, procurement cooperation with customers from multiple countries including Latin America, South Asia, and East Asia is expected to make up for the temporary decline in Middle Eastern orders. Geopolitical conflicts have intensified, international oil prices have fluctuated significantly, and logistics and supply chain order have been affected... Faced with an increasingly uncertain market environment, diversified market layout has become a common choice for many foreign trade enterprises to diversify risks and expand markets. In the first quarter, China's imports and exports to developed economies such as the European Union maintained overall growth, while the growth rates of imports and exports to ASEAN, Latin America, Africa and other regions were all above double digits. In the process of opening up diversified markets, the value of the "lifeline" channel is increasingly prominent, such as "sea freight prices are like roller coasters" and "air freight timeliness is difficult to guarantee". Fortunately, the option of the China Europe freight train ensured the smooth fulfillment of our European orders. ”Li Rongchang, the head of the Logistics Packaging Department of Shenyang Yuanda Intelligent Industrial Group, said, "For orders in the Middle East market, we also hope for the China Europe freight trains." The tense situation in the Middle East has impacted global shipping, and the China Europe freight trains running from Shanghai, Shenyang, Chongqing, Xi'an and other places are carrying goods to major cities in Europe. In the first quarter of this year, a total of 5460 China Europe freight trains were operated, sending 546000 TEUs of goods, an increase of 29% and 22% year-on-year, respectively. At Ningbo Zhoushan Port, the world's largest and China's first 10000 ton pure electric intelligent container ship has officially entered commercial route operation; At Kunming Container Central Station in Yunnan Province, the total volume of cargo transportation of China Laos railway has exceeded 80 million tons, including more than 18 million tons of cross-border cargo transportation... From coastal to inland, the construction of international logistics channels has been accelerated, paving a broader path for the diversification of foreign trade. Not long ago, the core brand "A Home Furnishings" under Dongguan Yangchen Furniture Group's core brand, Nankang Factory in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, sent the first batch of customized sofa cabinets for export to Africa, and furniture to Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America was also scheduled for shipment. Since the beginning of this year, we have continued to expand production and operate at full capacity. ”Guo Lei, General Manager of the Overseas Marketing Division of "A Home Furnishings", said that the company has invested 3 billion yuan to build the Nankang Intelligent Manufacturing Base, introduce the world's top smart devices, and create an Industry 4.0 smart home production line. There are both "exports" and "imports", and the trade relations of this furniture enterprise are a vivid footnote to the balanced development of China's trade. In the first quarter, China's imports increased by 19.6% year-on-year, with imports from over 150 countries and regions achieving growth. Among them, the import of high-tech products increased by 25.1%, and the import of bulk commodities and consumer goods also maintained a good growth rate. The website of Eurasia Review in the United States recently published an article stating that against the backdrop of global monetary tightening and geopolitical turmoil, China's imports still achieved nearly 20% growth, reflecting the strong domestic industrial demand and increasingly stable consumer base. The impressive import data reflects the steady expansion of China's domestic demand. This is due to the dual support of institutional openness and trade facilitation. In Chongqing, Chile's cherries, Thailand's longan and mangosteen... More and more imported fruits are entering the Chinese market through international channels such as the Western Land Sea New Corridor. At the end of last year, Laotian durian was officially approved for export to China. We expect to start importing durian from Laos in June this year, and durian prices are expected to further decrease, "said Yang Liu, the person in charge of New Western (Chongqing) Agricultural Products Co., Ltd. The company's import of specialty agricultural products is increasing. Last year, the company imported more than 17 million yuan worth of fruits, and this year it is expected to double. In Hainan, the scope of "zero tariff" goods in the free trade port has expanded to more than 6600 tax items, and the categories of duty-free goods on outlying islands have expanded to 47 major categories. The institutional dividend of "zero tariff, low tax rate, and simple tax system" is accelerating. The proportion of international exhibits participating in this year's Consumer Expo has reached 65%, an increase of 20 percentage points from the previous edition. The Canadian National Post recently published a report titled "The Consumer Expo Shows the Persistent Attraction of the Chinese Market". The article introduces that currently, 70 top companies have chosen to settle in Hainan after participating in the exhibition, and Canada's Ainash Group is one of them. This group has already established three companies in Hainan. Starting from January 1st this year, China will implement temporary import tariffs lower than the most favored nation tariff rate for 935 goods, and from May 1st, it will fully implement zero tariff measures for 53 African countries that have diplomatic relations with China; The recently released "Catalogue of Encouraged Import Services" has added categories such as "Medical and Health Services"; The 9th China International Import Expo, which is currently being prepared, has signed contracts with nearly 800 companies from more than 70 countries and regions, completing more than 75% of the planned exhibition area... A series of opening measures convey a clear signal: China is not only willing to be the "world factory", but also willing to be the "world market". Based on the advantages of a super large market and a complete industrial system foundation, China leads industrial upgrading with technological innovation and promotes cooperation and win-win outcomes with higher levels of openness. This is China's path of progress in foreign trade, constantly opening the door of opportunities for global development and progress. (New Society)