Quanzhou manages four consecutive months of export growth

Quanzhou’s foreign trade reached 126.34 RMB billion in the first half of 2025, according to data released by Quanzhou Customs on July 17. Besides, from March to June, Quanzhou has achieved four straight months of growth, despite generally bleak external environment.

Since April, when the Trump administration launched reciprocal-tariff measures, the global economy has struggled under intense shockwaves. Confronted by higher U.S. tariffs and an over-reliance on a few markets, Quanzhou, demonstrating remarkable resilience, engineers this turnaround.

Diversify overseas markets

To reduce reliance on a single export market, Quanzhou has been actively diversifying its overseas destinations. In the first half of 2025, ASEAN became Quanzhou’s top trading partner, followed by the EU and the United States.

At the national level, the formal signing of the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership), in 2020 created fresh opportunities for trade between Quanzhou and ASEAN. On the one hand, RCEP has significantly boosted intra-regional commerce, facilitating the free flow of goods, information, and labor. On the other hand, it has enabled a host of companies and products to enter ASEAN markets duty-free.

 Local authorities have also introduced a suite of measures to help Quanzhou expand into diversified overseas markets. Quanzhou Customs, for instance, has continued to roll out facilitation reforms markedly accelerating customs clearance across the board.

In parallel, the city is deepening trade cooperation with Belt and Road partner countries and BRICS members; over 70 % of Quanzhou’s first-half trade was with Belt and Road economies.

Encouraging brands to go global

Quanzhou is also taking measures to facilitate not only products but also brands to go global. 

In the past, some cross-border e-commerce companies have stagnated in thin profit, with most profits siphoned off by brand dealers and platforms. 

To address this issue, Quanzhou enterprises have focused on brand building, splitting their existing products into multiple clusters based on category characteristics to form a brand matrix. By going global as brands rather than individual products, it reduces the profits that brand owners and channel partners make in the middle, thereby increasing the export value.

During this process, the local government offers subsidies for overseas trademark registration, effectively allowing companies to register trademarks at zero cost.

 Tongwo Network, a clothing export company, has been improving its brand image since 2022, and now owns more than a dozen proprietary brands. After brand-building, its profit margin rose 30–50 %.

Empowering firms with technology

In Quanzhou, technological upgrading is driven from the ground up. In recent years, private export enterprises have taken the lead, adopting cloud computing, 5G, artificial intelligence and other technologies to streamline production and boost efficiency. By reducing cost and improving efficiency, company's export volume have increased.

Another clothing export company, Pengtai Garments, adopted digital and smart production lines in 2018, investing over RMB 100 million to date. By using intelligent workshop, workload has fallen by more than 60 %, while on-time delivery has risen from 75 % to above 90 %, realizing uplift of export.

文字丨郑阳 

图片丨王韵众