From losing money to making money, from low value-added to high value-added, from OEM to buying and creating cards, “Made in China†is undergoing a process of transformation from the low end to the high end.
Text / "Looking" News Weekly reporter Lu Fuming Fu Hang
Although the current foreign trade economic situation is unprecedentedly severe, the reporter recently found in Guangdong, Shandong and other places that a large number of promising foreign trade export enterprises have successfully passed the "profit and death line" and "transformation confusion period" through the transformation and upgrading in recent years. To accelerate the development of innovation.
"Two-way" transfer space is bigger
Shandong Tianyuan Copper Co., Ltd., located in the Yellow River mouth, has been the textile industry for 25 years and has achieved 300,000 spindles with a scale of 5,000. Under the pressure of low profits and tight labor, the company transferred 150,000 spindles to Luxi Heze, which has one-third of the labor cost, and entered the non-ferrous metals and photovoltaic new energy industries. In that year, the sales revenue was 17.9 billion yuan, the profit and tax was 1.7 billion yuan, and the total import and export volume was 1.19 billion US dollars.
Although the export of photovoltaic products has encountered US anti-dumping investigations, Cui Dianwen, chairman of Tianyuan Copper, still has confidence in the development prospects of the photovoltaic industry. He told the "Weiwang" Newsweek reporter that the market demand for photovoltaic products has increased by 30% every year, and may drop to 15% this year, but the base is increasing.
He said that before the international financial crisis, one kilogram of silicon material rose from 230 US dollars to 400 US dollars, while a group of Chinese enterprises signed a contract for importing silicon materials for 10 years at a price of 280-340 US dollars. Last year, the silicon material plummeted to 30 US dollars / kg, which made some related import enterprises can not afford, and Tianyuan company entered the industry at this time, and realized profit after the production.
When some companies choose to transform across regions and seek more space for survival, many companies choose to shift production links to lower-cost neighboring countries.
Chongqing Lifan Industrial (Group) Co., Ltd. has established seven auto assembly plants and three motorcycle manufacturing plants overseas, and parts are also produced locally. Yang Bo, vice president of the company, said that Lifan's products have been exported to more than 160 countries. Last year, foreign investment reached more than 46 million US dollars, and automobile and motorcycle exports also achieved an increase of 45.6%.
He said that the company will increase its overseas investment by 130 million U.S. dollars this year, investing in car production plants and R&D centers in Uruguay and Brazil in South America to make products more suitable for overseas market demand. In this way, it can reduce the cost of overseas exports and effectively avoid anti-dumping investigations.
This phenomenon of industrial turnover can be seen in both the eastern and western regions. Zheng Jianrong, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, said that Guangdong’s emphasis on optimizing its structure will inevitably force some export enterprises with low added value to transfer to the central and western regions or neighboring countries.
Last year, a total of 13 enterprises were relocated in Guangdong, of which 9 were in Dongguan, 8 were in the province, and 5 were moved to Jiangsu, Hebei, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Xinjiang. Because most ASEAN countries have zero-tariff bilateral agreements with European and American countries, ceramic enterprises in Foshan, Guangdong and other places have increased their investment in ASEAN. Industrial transfer and diversified development have increased the profit margin of enterprises. Take Dongguan as an example. Although the difficulties faced by enterprises are no less than in 2008, the number of enterprises shut down last year was less than 350.
Buying a brand and creating a brand "The road is open"
As a labor-intensive hair products industry, Xinhuajin Group, headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong Province, was forced to give up in the most difficult 2007 due to factors such as rising wages and rising raw material prices.
the reason is simple. Xinhuajin is at the lowest end of the entire industrial chain, and the profits are all taken by foreign distributors, importers, especially retailers. For example, a wig set ex-factory price of 60 US dollars, sold to foreign trade companies plus 5 US dollars, sold to foreign wholesalers 200 US dollars, and then sold to consumers 1,000 US dollars.
A bold acquisition in 2009 laid the foundation for the export of Xinhua Jinfa Products to become the foreign market leader today. At that time, Xinhua Jin spent $8 million to purchase a 35-year-old hair products marketing company and its brand in Miami, USA, so that they could directly face US retailers.
Zhang Jianhua, chairman of Xinhuajin, told this reporter: “In the past, we only accounted for 5% to 8% of profits in the industrial chain. After acquiring overseas wholesalers and their brands, it was equivalent to taking over US$200. Now, if RMB Appreciation to 1 US dollar to 4 yuan, we still have profits."
In 2011, Xinhua Jin acquired another wig marketing company in Miami for $14.5 million. At this point, Xinhuajin has two male hair products brands and one female hair products brand. The men's wigs produced by Xinhuajin account for 50% of the US market. In 2011, Xinhuajin Group's textile exports were 90 million US dollars, and its profit was only about 10 million US dollars; while the export of hair products was 100 million US dollars and the profit was 50 million US dollars.
“If other products do the same, then the transformation of China’s foreign trade mode will change a lot. Now, I am very confident about the development of traditional labor-intensive industries. The overall feeling is bright, the road is open, not as pessimistic as in the past. As long as the transfer method and adjustment structure are done well, the traditional industry is still very promising." Zhang Jianhua spread his hands and smiled very cheerfully.
Li Wenkai, general manager of Guangdong Weiyi Group Co., Ltd., also had the same feelings. Last year, the company's sweater products were all exported to the Eastern European market. At the end of last year, we purchased an overseas brand “Lizi Ao†and had factories and marketing companies in Italy and Hungary.
In the face of the impact of the European debt crisis, Weiyi Group plans to increase domestic sales by 30% this year and registered two independent brands in China. “Only relying on OEM processing has become unsustainable. Having its own technology and brand is the only way for enterprises to transform and upgrade. At present, the sales of self-owned brands account for 80%, and the profit margin is significantly higher than that of OEM. The normal output in previous years was 3 million pieces. Last year, there were only 1.5 million pieces, but the profits did not decrease." Li Wenkai said.
In the interview, our reporter found that enterprises such as Shandong Xinhuajin and Guangdong Weiyi Group are increasing. They are beginning to intentionally make the scale of production small, and make the early stage R&D and post-sales bigger, and the business management will be bright.
According to the Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Department of Guangdong Province, the superposition of various unfavorable factors has had a negative effect on foreign trade enterprises. The driving force for transformation and upgrading of enterprises has been continuously enhanced. ODM (original design manufacturer) and OBM (original) are engaged in processing trade business in the Pearl River Delta region. Brand manufacturers) The proportion of mixed production exports reached 40%.
Technological innovation grows against the trend
From the eastern coast to the western hinterland, from traditional industries to emerging industries, “Made in China†is no longer the same. The traditional meat and poultry farming and exporting industry has been reborn in the face of overseas trade barriers for many years. The reporter saw in the clean and spacious broiler processing workshop of Shandong Xinfengxiang Holding Group that thousands of employees uniformed and dressed in a world-class production line.
Wang Changgui, vice president of the group, told reporters that the company has formed a processing capacity of processing more than 10,000 chickens per hour. It is a strategic supplier of McDonald's and KFC, and its products are exported to overseas markets unimpeded, driving the employment of 100,000 farmers around.
And technological innovation is also enhancing the traditional "Made in China" taste. As the world's largest yarn-dyed fabric manufacturer, Shandong Lutai Textile is the first batch of high-tech enterprises in the country, and now enters the stage of innovation and development. According to Liu Zibin, general manager of the company, the current investment in scientific research accounts for 5% of sales revenue, which is more than 10 times of the industry average; sales of new products account for 50% of sales, and sales account for more than 60%. In 2011, corporate exports earned 748 million US dollars, an increase of nearly 30% year-on-year. The differentiated strategy supported by technology has enabled Lutai's product prices to avoid direct conflicts with domestic companies. The same export of yarn-dyed fabrics, Lu Thai's per metre high is tens of cents; shirts with prices ranging from 600 to 1,200 yuan are sold at more than 90%.
Shi Yong, deputy director of the Shandong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, said that the batch of inspection and export goods at the Shandong port increased by 11.1% last year, but the value of the goods increased by 29.3%. This shows that high value-added products have increased.
Affected by the US tire special protection case, the country's tire exports in the same industry are declining, while Shandong's tire exports have increased by 54%. In the tire industry export base in Shandong Dongying, local tire exports increased by 100%. Among them, Shandong Yongtai Chemical Group Co., Ltd.'s racing tires entered the world's top car races and became the supplier of the world's top rally championships. Tian Hong, deputy general manager of the company, said that under the investment of high-intensity technology research and development, the company produced 100,000 sets of racing tires last year, and allowed US first-tier and second-tier distributors to share some costs.
In 2011, the electromechanical exports of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Hubei, Fujian, Shandong and other provinces maintained rapid growth. According to Yan Renfeng, deputy director of the Import and Export Office of Mechanical and Electrical Products of the Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce, in 2011, the export of Shandong ships and automobiles increased by 41% and 50% respectively. Unlike traditional textile products, which are mainly based on OEM, mechanical and electrical products are mostly independent brands.
“There are only backward technologies and no backward industries. The trend of traditional industries to replace manual operations by automated machinery and equipment is obvious. With the popularization of CNC looms, a textile production line can save 80% of labor and increase operating efficiency by more than 50%.†Zheng Jianrong, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation said.