NINGBO, July 10 (Xinhua) -- A charter flight carrying 36 businesspeople took off from the Lishe International Airport in Ningbo City, east China's Zhejiang Province, at 10 a.m. on Sunday, bound for Budapest, Hungary.
The charter flight was launched as a result of the collaboration of many local departments, including the commercial bureau, foreign affairs office, health commission, and public security bureau.
"We are already in contact with French companies to talk with them about orders in person in mid-July," said Yuan Lin, a manager with a garment export enterprise in Ningbo, who was aboard the charter flight.
"July happens to be the new development season. We have brought a lot of new autumn and winter styles this time. I hope we can not only get the orders of old customers but also bring back more new orders," Yuan added.
Many innovative home products manufactured by Ningbo Rollmax Shutter Component Co., Ltd. are bestsellers in overseas markets, including intelligent electric windows and electric clothes racks. Ding Yandong, general manager of the company, immediately signed up after he heard about the charter flight.
Ding said he would go to Poland this time to renew orders with his regular customers.
Affected by COVID-19, foreign trade enterprises' overseas business negotiations and on-site exhibitions are in a state of suspension, and they can only communicate through video, telephone, and emails. However, the disadvantages are becoming apparent. Due to shipping congestion, some in-transit orders also face possible cancellations.
To solve the problem, Ningbo has made every effort to benefit more small, medium, and micro foreign trade enterprises by implementing measures such as facilitating the entry and exit of foreign-related business personnel and introducing policies to promote high-quality development of foreign trade.
During this trip, Sun Chonglong, executive director of Ningbo Lianbang Changyun International Trade Co., Ltd., agreed with two beef factories in Hungary to sign a general agent agreement in person.
"After this agreement is signed, the company will increase beef imports by 350 million yuan (about 52.16 million U.S. dollars) annually," Sun said. This trip is of great significance. The government helps enterprises stabilize purchase orders and strengthen ties with foreign factories, Sun added.
In addition to the "Ningbo-Budapest-Hangzhou" trip by charter flight, another "Ningbo-Milan-Hangzhou" round-trip charter flight will operate from July 21 to 22.
In the first half of this year, the Zhoushan Port in Ningbo saw a total cargo throughput of 557.96 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 5.5 percent. The port's container throughput was 13.91 million TEUs, up 4.7 percent, year on year. Data from Ningbo Customs show that from January to May, the total foreign trade volume in Ningbo reached 514.37 billion yuan, up 11.5 percent year on year.
A single purchase
