In the first three quarters, the province's total import and export value grew by 11.9%.

At Hunan HAME production base, lithium-ion batteries are packed and shipped to Europe; at Hengyang Intelligent EV Bus's workshop, pure electric buses are loaded and dispatched to markets such as South Korea and Saudi Arabia... In the first three quarters, Hunan's total import and export value increased by 11.9%, with exports up 6.3% and imports up 20.2%.

These numbers reflect a deeper shift in Hunan's foreign trade—its structure is continuously moving toward innovation-driven and green development, and its market layout is extending globally.

Competitive industries set sail for global markets, with the "new three" products demonstrating strong momentum.

Recently, Zoomlion shipped 18 construction hoists to Saudi Arabia. As the Saudi Vision 2030 is accelerating, projects such as NEOM, Jeddah Central Project, and Riyadh super high-rise projects are underway simultaneously. Designed to meet the region's stringent requirements for resistance to wind and sand, salt spray, and high temperatures, the construction hoists in this shipment have earned praise from customers for their intelligent features.

Since the beginning of this year, Hunan's competitive industries such as construction machinery and rail transit equipment have continued to expand overseas. According to data from the Changsha Customs Authority, in the first three quarters, the province's exports of construction machinery reached 32.39 billion CNY, a year-on-year increase of 26.5%, with Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Russia becoming Hunan's top three single export markets; while exports of rail transit equipment reached 1.25 billion CNY, up 21.9% year on year.

"Overseas markets such as Africa, ASEAN, and the Middle East have become important export destinations for Hunan's construction machinery, and there is also strong demand for printed circuits, storage components, and battery materials," said Liu Liang, a Level 4 Researcher at the Statistics Division of Changsha Customs Authority. Liu added that exports of construction machinery are expected to maintain relatively rapid growth in the fourth quarter.

The pace of the foreign trade sector's shift toward innovation-driven and green development continues to accelerate. At a plant of the Hengyang Global Power Technology Co., Ltd, production of energy-storage lithium-ion batteries is in full swing, with small lithium-ion batteries primarily targeting applications such as RVs, yachts, and residential use. This year, the company’s export revenue has increased by 30% year on year.
  
In September, 235 Geely new energy vehicles cleared customs under a model of entry and exit in batches and consolidated declaration and were shipped from Xiangtan Comprehensive Bonded Zone to Egypt. In the first three quarters, Hunan's exports of electric vehicles exceeded 100,000 units, up 60.4% year on year. The combined exports of the "new three" products—electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, and photovoltaic products—reached 18.91 billion CNY, an increase of 36% year on year, becoming an important engine driving the province's export growth.

At present, Hunan's "new three" products have been exported to more than 150 countries and regions, with more than 200 enterprises in the province involved. Leading companies such as Anker Innovations, BYD Auto, and Geely Auto have become the main drivers of these exports.

"Hunan Trade Goes Global" campaign helps improve quality and efficiency, while 3H products open up new paths.

This year, Hunan has taken the "Enterprise Service Year" as a lever to thoroughly implement the "Hunan Trade Goes Global" service optimization year campaign. The campaign aims to upgrade the quality of Hunan products going global.

In the first half of the year, Geely Auto's exports entered a peak period, with a large number of "Made in Xiangtan" vehicles facing customs clearance and logistics challenges. The Xiangtan Municipal Bureau of Commerce, in collaboration with the Shaoshan Customs Authority, tailored a "batch declaration + station yard service" customs clearance model for Geely, providing a dedicated yard within the comprehensive bonded zone to ensure smooth logistics. Meanwhile, they secured key transport capacity support from the Central South China International Land Port and the Hunan-Guangdong-Africa rail-sea intermodal service, facilitating a three-way partnership among Xiangtan Comprehensive Bonded Zone, Central South China International Land Port, and Jisu Logistics to jointly build a southern export logistics center. With the government setting the stage and enterprises taking the lead, bottlenecks were systematically resolved one by one. In the first eight months of this year, Xiangtan's exports reached 17.87 billion CNY, up 107.9%, ranking first in the province in growth rate.

Recently, an on-site meeting on the "Hunan Trade Global" service optimization year campaign and high-quality foreign trade development of 3H products was held in Xiangtan. 3H products refer to high-tech, high value-added, and high-growth products. From January to September, the province's exports of 3H products represented by artificial intelligence, green power equipment, life and health, and aerospace products reached 5.22 billion CNY, up 21.2%, showing vigorous momentum.

"Whatever enterprises fear when expanding overseas, we will address; whatever overseas channels lack, we will connect," said Shen Yumou, director of the Department of Commerce of Hunan Province. He noted that promoting high-quality foreign trade development of 3H products is a comprehensive campaign to upgrade capabilities. It is essential to move beyond the traditional focus on price and scale and shift entirely toward competing on innovation, quality, branding, and comprehensive services. Moving forward, it is necessary to strengthen the industrial ecosystem by bolstering leading enterprises in the supply chain and optimizing specialized and sophisticated enterprises, while deepening the synergy between industry and trade. Efforts will be made to diversify expansion pathways by guiding enterprises to transition from simply "exporting products" to a coordinated "products + production capacity + brand + services" approach; tackle certification challenges by supporting overseas product certification, overseas trademark registration, and international patent layout; and innovate services by optimizing credit, settlement, exchange rate hedging, and export credit insurance services, and by improving customs clearance, tax refunds, and trade facilitation.

Shen Yumou noted that it is necessary to bolster enterprises' confidence in expanding overseas. Through government-enterprise collaboration, internal and external coordination, and sustained, long-term efforts, more "Intelligent Manufacturing from Hunan" products will reach global markets.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn. 

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn