Supporting the transformation of export to domestic sales

The novel coronavirus pneumonia has brought serious impact to the global economy. Some foreign trade enterprises have been affected by new orders due to shrinking external demand, blocked channels and poor logistics. With the resumption of production and business in China, the domestic market demand continues to pick up. Many foreign trade enterprises have begun to "turn inward". Recently, the state office has issued a special document to support foreign trade enterprises to switch from export to domestic sales.

To realize the transformation of export to domestic sales, two major problems need to be solved from the perspective of foreign trade enterprises. One is the strategic positioning of enterprises. According to the different purposes of foreign trade enterprises' export to domestic sales, they can be divided into two situations. One is to solve the urgent problems by turning to domestic sales and continue to focus on the international market in the future. It should be noted that the degree of internationalization of the domestic market is very high. All enterprises that are optimistic about the Chinese market enter through investment or export. There are a large number of competitive products in the domestic market for many foreign export products. The competition faced by the export to domestic market is no less than that of the international market. It is not easy for foreign trade enterprises to successfully switch to domestic sales without large-scale investment of resources. The other is to transform domestic sales as a major strategic transformation of the enterprise and prepare for long-term investment. For example, Huawei, Midea and Gree, which are well-known in the domestic market, were once export processing enterprises. This requires enterprises to invest on a large scale even when the external demand is seriously shrinking, which may lead to the shortage of resources such as funds and talents.

The second is the marketing strategy of enterprises. Many foreign trade enterprises' products are produced according to the demand of export market, which does not necessarily conform to domestic consumption preference. In addition, many foreign trade enterprises focus on processing, and are not familiar with product development and channel promotion, and their brand awareness in China is not high. When foreign trade enterprises decide to transfer their export products to domestic market, they need to choose products that meet the needs of the domestic market, carry out brand promotion and find appropriate distribution channels. For many foreign trade enterprises, these are unprecedented challenges.

From the external point of view, foreign trade enterprises will encounter the problem of applying different standards for domestic sales and export sales at the policy level, that is, the qualified products produced by foreign trade enterprises according to the standards of export destination countries may not meet the technical index requirements of relevant domestic standards, and may not be able to be sold in China.

It can be seen that supporting foreign trade enterprises to convert export to domestic sales should start from two aspects: short-term assistance and long-term support. In the short term, efforts should be made to reduce the burden and increase the income to improve the survival ability of enterprises under the epidemic situation. In terms of burden reduction, the state has allowed foreign trade enterprises to make relevant written commitments to sell through self-compliance statements for the standard obstacles faced by foreign trade enterprises to transfer exports to domestic sales. We can also improve the convenience level of customs inspection tax exchange and further reduce the system cost. For example, we should make good use of the export tax rebate policy of foreign trade enterprises, open a green channel for tax rebate, shorten the time of tax rebate, help enterprises revitalize the capital chain, and indirectly help enterprises prepare for the start-up funds for improving domestic sales. In terms of income increase, it can help foreign trade enterprises to build cooperation platforms or hold various online exhibitions, and make good use of offline and online channels to sell existing products.

In the long run, it is necessary to create conditions for enterprises to base on two markets and two resources through various policy innovations, especially focusing on innovation, standards and digitization to effectively reduce the cost of strategic transformation of enterprises.

First, implement the innovation policy. The transformation of export to domestic sales is not simply "selling things in another market". It needs to have good products that are in line with domestic consumption preferences and are loud. Therefore, enterprises must increase innovation investment. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the practicability of innovation policies. Before the introduction of innovation policies related to enterprises, the opinions of relevant enterprises should be fully solicited, so that the innovation policies can truly benefit enterprises.

The second is to accelerate the internationalization of standards. In addition to supporting enterprises to develop "same line, same standard and same quality" products, it is also necessary to promote the integration of domestic and foreign standards. We should establish a system of comparison and reporting of domestic and foreign standards, promote the "going global" of Chinese standards, actively participate in the formulation and revision of international standards, support the technical standards of China's advantageous industries to become international standards, and fundamentally eliminate the differences between domestic and foreign standards.

The third is to improve the digital ability of enterprises. Although the online channel is growing rapidly, the competition is also fierce. It is necessary to encourage foreign trade enterprises to speed up digital construction, realize comprehensive digital transformation through domestic and cross-border e-commerce, reach consumers of various countries, enter diversified overseas markets, create brands and build global digital supply chain.