Enterprises in Huzhou eye overseas expansion

More aggressive efforts to expand in the overseas market and industrial upgrading have become the gold standard for enterprises in Zhejiang, a major hub for private economy and foreign trade in East China, to offset the impact of the trade dispute between China and the United States.

"We will never miss the whole forest just because of a tree," said Lei Bingnan, sales director for Asia-Pacific of Microvast Inc, citing an ancient Chinese proverb."Markets outside the US are definitely worth fighting for and the fact is these markets will bestow us with more benefits."

The company, a manufacturer specializing in the design, development and manufacture of fast charging, lithium-ion battery systems in Huzhou in northern Zhejiang, recently shipped its first cargo of battery sets to India. More orders are in the pipeline from markets such as Russia, South Korea, Australia and Kazakhstan, the company said.

Huzhou is a traditional foreign trade hub in Zhejiang. It is one of the cities that had been buffeted by the escalating China-US trade conflict since the US has been the city's largest export destination. Exports to the United States accounted for 25.1 percent of the city's total in the first half of this year.

Microvast is one of several local enterprises that are busy expanding to other emerging markets or looking at higher domestic consumption to cushion sluggish sales in the US.

ZOY Home Furnishing Corp, a motion sofa manufacturer and exporter in Anji of Huzhou, enhanced its input in frontline marketing and sales staff this year, launching over 10 outlets in the US,Hong Kong and Europe to reshape its previously US-centered sales network.

"The US has long been the largest exporting destination for our company, with sofas sold to the US accounting for half of our annual sales volume," ZOY general manager Cao Yong said in an interview with China Daily.

"We are actively expanding our whole production and sales chain, and shifting our strategy to focus more on domestic consumption in China while working on a wider layout of our sales network," Cao said.

Wolong Electric, a global manufacturer of motor and drive solutions in Zhejiang, has been actively beefing up its global acquisition and production line setup by launching 35 factories in China and 14 in Southeast Asia, Europe and the US.

"We will continue to maintain our high interest toward markets outside US, and actively enhance our efforts in marketing in areas such as East Asia, as our products are comparatively competitive with their local counterparts," said Liao Chengchao, director for marketing with Wolong.

South Korea is an example because sales volume in the country has registered double-digit growth for three straight years, added Liao.