China News Service, Wenzhou, October 20 (Fu Feiyang) As an important birthplace of China's private economy, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, handed over a solid answer sheet in 2025: GDP reached 1.02139 billion yuan, successfully entering the "trillion club", and the total number of private individuals exceeded 1.6 million for the first time...
From "daring to be the first in the world" to becoming a "trillion city", every step Wenzhou has taken has resonated with the growth of the private economy.
In 2025, the city's total import and export of goods will reach 311.65 billion yuan, of which exports will be 276.19 billion yuan, an increase of 9.6%, and private enterprises will contribute about 96% of exports. In the current context of rising global trade protectionism and increasing external pressure, who will support and empower private enterprises as they venture into the world? Wenzhou continues to make efforts in logistics, exhibitions, compliance and other aspects to open up the "lifeline" for enterprises to go overseas.
Consolidating goods into containers and "putting together" a new channel to go to sea
"Today, products are consolidated and shipped to the sea at the 'doorstep', which has become a daily routine for more and more Wenzhou foreign trade companies." Huang Zhaoyi, the document manager of Yueqing Lawns Electric Co., Ltd., said in a recent interview with China News Service that their products are mainly sold to Africa, South America and other places, covering more than 30 countries, with an export volume of approximately US$20 million in 2025.
Huang Zhaoyi recalled that in the past, most of their goods were exported at Ningbo Port, and the entire vehicle used to arrive basically the next day. When the port was busy, the goods could not be unloaded until the afternoon or even evening when they arrived in the morning. The opening and customs clearance times were closely linked. If there was an emergency, a ship might be missed.
On October 29, 2025, Wenzhou's large-scale international container consolidation base (Phase I) invested and constructed by Wenzhou Modern Service Industry Development Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Wenzhou Modern Group") was put into operation in the Wenzhou Marine Economic Development Demonstration Zone, with a total construction area of approximately 33,900 square meters, becoming the city's first off-port storage yard with the function of picking up and returning containers.
"Now we drive from the factory to the base in 40 minutes. Unloading is fast, we control the shipping time ourselves, and the error tolerance is much greater." Huang Zhaoyi said.
The operation of the consolidation base is not accidental, but an inevitable result of the high-quality development of Wenzhou's foreign trade economy - local small, medium and micro enterprises account for more than 90%, export goods are mainly small batches and multiple batches, and professional consolidation and consolidation facilities have been long-awaited.
Cai Haoyu, member of the general party branch and deputy general manager of Wenzhou Sigang Linkage Development Co., Ltd., introduced that the base has innovated the "Warm Cargo Warm Transportation + Wenzhou Consolidation + Empty Container Transfer" model, which places empty containers at the company's "factory gate". After the goods are consolidated, they are short-term transfer to Wenzhou Port, where they can take 18 direct ocean routes covering major ports in Russia, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries and regions. "Consolidate in Wenzhou and ship in Wenzhou" to achieve "entry into the port upon entry".
Compared with Ningbo Port and the "Yi-Xin-Europe" China-Europe freight trains and other "major sea passages", the base has no advantage in size. However, the local area does not strive to be "big and comprehensive", but only aims to serve the foreign trade companies around it.
Cai Haoyu made some calculations: the company can save 1,500 yuan to 2,000 yuan per standard container by picking up and consolidating boxes locally in Wenzhou, including transportation costs and time costs. Up to now, the base has served more than 160 foreign trade companies.
At present, the base's comprehensive operation volume has exceeded 10,000 TEUs, and goods ranging from shoes and clothing, artificial leather to packaging machines, can sealing machines, etc., are directly shipped to the Netherlands, Kenya, the Philippines and other countries, allowing "Made in Wenzhou" to reach the river and the sea at the doorstep, realizing two-way empowerment of Hong Kong products.
Promote production through exhibition to "build" a global trade bridge
For foreign trade companies in Wenzhou, if the problem solved by the LCL base is "how to get the goods out", then the Wenzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center focuses on answering "where the orders come from."
From the perspective of industrial foundation, Wenzhou's electrical, pumps and valves, shoes and clothing, glasses, automobile and motorcycle parts and other industrial clusters are of considerable scale, with a large number of leading enterprises and a developed foreign trade network. In 2025, Wenzhou will host a total of 55 exhibitions and related activities, with a total exhibition area of 732,600 square meters, of which Wenzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center will host 41 events with an exhibition area of 487,000 square meters.
"Wenzhou's convention and exhibition industry is 'grown' in the market. When we do conventions and exhibitions, we must completely break away from the traditional thinking of 'collecting rent and becoming a landlord.'" said Ying Jun, Secretary and Chairman of the Party Branch of Wenzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center and President of the Wenzhou Convention and Exhibition Industry Association.
Take the China (Wenzhou) International Automobile and Motorcycle Parts Expo held in September this year as an example. The exhibition took the initiative to move to the two major auto parts manufacturing bases of Ruian and Yuhuan, creating a "one main and two wings" exhibition model.
Among them, hundreds of auto and motorcycle parts companies participated in the exhibition "at the doorstep" of Ruian, attracting auto companies such as SAIC, Geely, BYD and overseas buyers from more than 20 countries. Not only did the on-site intended transactions exceed 400 million yuan, but it also drove the surrounding hotels to be full and the tourist flow in the scenic spots doubled, directly boosting local cultural tourism consumption to more than 60 million yuan.
In Ying Jun's view, Wenzhou does not lack good products, but what it lacks is a "trade bridge" that can accurately connect with the global market.
"If overseas buyers come to participate in the exhibition, we will first review the industry qualifications, and provide special car transportation, full translation, free hotel and other guarantees for those who meet the conditions." Ying Jun said that even if the exhibition is over, the matching service will be available year-round - they will contact foreign businessmen to track the transaction status, and if there is no intention to cooperate at the moment, they will be pushed to suitable export companies on a regular basis.
While actively "bringing in", Wenzhou has also taken the initiative to "go out": At present, the city has 6 government-led overseas self-organized exhibitions, and related companies have followed the exhibitions into markets such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States; there are 8 UFI (International Exhibition Industry Association) certified exhibitions, ranking second in Zhejiang...
In recent years, on the basis of the vigorous development of traditional manufacturing, Wenzhou's emerging industries have continued to grow, and artificial intelligence, embodied intelligence, etc. have accelerated their entry into thousands of industries.
From October 17th to 19th, the 2026 Wenzhou Artificial Intelligence Industry Expo and Embodied Intelligent Robot Application and Industry Exhibition was held at the Wenzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center. Manufacturing company leaders, experts and scholars, purchasers and other people at home and abroad gathered together to achieve a fully closed-loop implementation of technology display, supply and demand docking, real-life verification, and achievement transformation...
Compliance system "paves" the way to the sea
Driven by the wave of globalization, cross-border e-commerce has become a digital bridge connecting world trade.
In 2025, Wenzhou's cross-border e-commerce export volume will reach 28.74 billion yuan. Relying on the advantages of fast response and flexible adaptation for small orders, many local small and medium-sized enterprises have jumped out of the limitations of traditional foreign trade orders, opened up new blue oceans in the global terminal consumer market, and sought new growth.
However, correspondingly, problems such as "difficulty in filing tax returns due to lack of invoices, high compliance costs, and complicated customs declaration in different places" have become increasingly prominent. "We found that cross-border e-commerce companies want to standardize tax payment, but 'which way to go' is not clear enough." Hu Shanshan, deputy general manager of Wenzhou Modern International Trade Cloud Commerce Co., Ltd. said frankly.
In June 2025, the State Administration of Taxation issued the "Announcement on Matters Concerning the Submission of Tax-related Information by Internet Platform Enterprises", further making the identity and income information of operators on the platform more transparent.
Wenzhou's response is to work hard to repair the "road" - the Wenzhou Cross-Border Platform, jointly built by Wenzhou Modern Group and Zhejiang International Trade Group, is the first local cross-border e-commerce industry hub that integrates government services, cross-border trade, and ecological empowerment.
The platform provides one-stop services such as customs clearance, logistics, compliance, and finance for small and medium-sized enterprises. It pioneered the 9610 approval and collection review system and has implemented innovative businesses such as AliExpress's "ticket-free tax exemption". It is an important window for state-owned enterprises to help local brands go global in compliance.
"For enterprises, compliance is the '1' in the front. Without it, no matter how many '0's follow, it cannot stand." Hu Shanshan said that they helped local enterprises obtain the country's first cross-border e-commerce income tax assessment and collection tax bill, making Wenzhou the first comprehensive pilot zone in the country to realize the full-process closed loop of "enterprise registration, data verification, and tax policy implementation."
As of now, there are more than 4,500 registered users on the Wenzhou Cross-Border Platform, of which more than 2,400 are registered in the comprehensive pilot area and have export customs clearance records.
"We do not compete with private enterprises for profit, but specialize in doing difficult things that private enterprises want to do but cannot do, and that the industry urgently needs but no one takes the lead." said Dong Boyu, member of the Party Committee of Wenzhou Hyundai Group and chairman of Wenzhou International Trade Group. Today, the platform's cumulative export volume has exceeded 2.4 billion yuan, helping companies reduce compliance operating costs by more than 120 million yuan a year, allowing more Wenzhou private enterprises to "go overseas and make money with peace of mind."
Wenzhou’s practice has proved that by enlarging the hub of consolidation, strengthening the exhibition economy, and strengthening the compliance system, only when the government “sets up the stage” and enterprises “sing the show” can the pace of foreign trade development become more and more stable. Facing the "15th Five-Year Plan", Wenzhou Modern Group has determined the "133" development strategy and proposed to go all out to focus on the producer service industry to provide a good backing for Wenzhou's private economy and manufacturing overseas.
At the new starting point of the "Trillion City", Wenzhou is continuing to write a new opening story with the confidence of "connecting the world at home".
