Retailers Across China Roll Out Measures to Help Exporters Tap Vast Domestic Market

Necessary step toward building resilient supply chain system: expert

By GT staff reporters

Apr 14, 2025 12:11 AM

A view of a shopping mall in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province File photo: VCG

The ever-changing US tariff threats have disrupted the global economic order, creating significant challenges for traders worldwide. In response, a growing number of Chinese associations and enterprises have begun taking action to help export-oriented businesses tap into the country's vast domestic market. 

Over the weekend, many rolled out targeted support initiatives. For instance, Chinese maternal and child brand Kidswant Children Products Co announced on Sunday the launch of its "Export-to-Domestic Sales Support Program." Centered on resource sharing, channel access and digital empowerment, the program offers measures to help export-oriented businesses expand in the domestic market.

E-commerce giant JD.com has announced that it will purchase 200 billion yuan ($27.34 billion) worth of export-to-domestic goods over the next year to help foreign trade firms, according to a statement the company sent to the Global Times on Sunday.

Chinese online life service provider Meituan announced a partnership with high-quality export-oriented enterprises to launch a dedicated "Premium Export Goods" section, leveraging its next-day delivery network that covers more than 2,000 counties and cities and more than 1 million community group-buying points to bring these products into households across China.

Livestream shopping platforms are also joining the effort. East Buy Holding told the Global Times on Sunday that it has launched a special initiative to fast-track services for export-oriented businesses. Tech giant Baidu, Alibaba's supermarket chain Hema Fresh, and Yonghui Superstores Co are also among the latest to join such efforts. 

The China Chain-Store & Franchise Association and seven other industry associations jointly announced an initiative to promote better integration of domestic and foreign trade.

The US government has weaponized tariffs as a tool of maximum pressure and self-interest, seriously undermining the legitimate rights and interests of other countries. This not only violates WTO rules, but also erodes the rules-based multilateral trading system, disrupts the global economic order, harms the interests of businesses and consumers worldwide, and threatens the stability of global industrial and supply chains, the associations said.

Expanding the domestic market and promoting the integration of domestic and foreign trade - particularly the shift from exports to domestic sales - has become a pressing task. Industry associations are expected to play a vital bridging role by organizing matchmaking events and training sessions to help export-oriented enterprises better understand domestic market demands and standards, and ensure their products are well aligned with local needs, the associations said.

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) will steadily advance the integration of domestic and foreign trade, and continue organizing the "Premium Export Products in China" campaign to build platforms that support export-oriented enterprises in exploring the domestic market. Greater efforts will be made to assist these enterprises in areas such as market access, channel development, fiscal and financial support and service guarantees, MOFCOM spokesperson He Yongqian said at a press briefing on Thursday.

China's efforts to promote the domestic sale of export goods represent a strategic move in response to shifts in the global economic landscape, Wan Zhe, an economist and professor at the Belt and Road School of Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

These efforts represent a form of resource reallocation that helps boost both consumption and income. Export-oriented enterprises often have higher production efficiency and more advanced technologies. By entering the domestic market, they can make better use of idle capacity and improve overall economic efficiency. This process also represents a reallocation of labor resources, contributing to greater stability in the job market, Wan said.

Finding new outlets for more than 2 trillion yuan worth of export capacity aligns closely with China's broader strategy to de-risk supply chains. This is not just a short-term response to external pressure, but a necessary step toward building a more self-reliant and resilient supply chain system, Wan noted.

In 2024, China's retail sales reached 48.8 trillion yuan, more than 10 times the value of exports to the US, official data showed.

China will remain focused on running its own affairs well, using China's certainty to offset the uncertainties of the external environment. The country's super-large market potential continues to be released, and policies to stabilize the economy and foreign trade continue to be implemented. China's foreign trade sector has the confidence to deal with various risks and challenges, the MOFCOM spokesperson said.