(Yicai Global) Feb. 1 -- Chinese exporters are wasting no time to make use of the country's relaxed Covid-19 policy to regain orders lost during the pandemic.

Firms are certainly more willing to participate in overseas exhibitions this year than they did in the past three years, an official in charge of foreign trade in the manufacturing hub of Wuxi in Jiangsu province, said to Yicai Global recently.

Generally, the overseas trade situation is not so bright this year, and a number of local firms have a strong need to keep their existing clients while expanding into new markets, the official added.

New Trips

Chen Jun, the head of Flavia Machinery, said that clients have been very happy with face-to-face exchanges as he was able to participate in trade exhibitions in Russia and visit local clients during the 2023 Spring Festival.

The Wuxi-based maker of crushing and kneading machines won orders worth at least CNY2 million (USD296,432) during recent exhibitions while before this, exports to Russia almost halved from the earlier 40-percent share due to communication issues.

Chen said he will go to Thailand to participate in exhibitions in June and then fly to Mexico by year-end, adding the firm will shift its focus to South American and Southeast Asian markets from Europe and the United States.

Representatives of Shengfa Textiles Printing and Dyeing will go to the United Kingdom tomorrow, attending exhibitions with more samples and new products to meet customers, workers at the foreign export department said to Yicai Global. Besides European countries, the US, and Southeast Asia, Shengfa will also make great efforts to expand in emerging Asian markets such as Pakistan, they added.

The pandemic has affected Shengfa. "Many of our clients don't know about new products in the Chinese market as they haven't visited in the past three years," the employee said. This year, more overseas clients are expected to visit China to buy products and their needs may grow, especially for new products.

New Challenges

The number of Chinese firms visiting trade exhibitions abroad has recovered to a third of the levels seen before the pandemic, said Zhang Yan, who is in charge of conference venue Ningbo Century International Exhibition.

Companies have not had enough time to prepare to travel and the visa application cycle has been hiked in many countries while the number of flights and exhibition slots have not recovered fully.

Moreover, many exhibitors are unable to organize many firms to attend exhibitions overseas with challenges in obtaining visas and arranging accommodation. Some overseas firms that used to help Chinese companies with car rental or travel arrangements shut down during the outbreak, Zhang added. Inflation overseas has resulted in increased travel costs. For example, in the US, tour guides expect tips of at least USD5 a person a day instead of USD2, Zhang said.

The trip to Russia cost double that from earlier, Flavia's Chen said, adding the air ticket to Moscow cost CNY13,000 (USD1,927), compared to as low as CNY5,000 (USD741) before. 

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi