Ten Years of Fasteners Export-Oriented Enterprise Transformation Appeal

A small industry that originally led local people to become rich has evolved into a characteristic industrial cluster that supports the local county economy.

During the ten years after its accession to the WTO, the Yongnian County, which is located in the south-central Fujian Province, has become the “fastener capital of China” and also enabled this agricultural county in southern Hebei to achieve a major leap into the world economy.

Although in this process, the Chinese fastener industry has experienced ups and downs in the conflict friction under the WTO rules, but it is precisely this kind of tempering, let this process-oriented county-specific industries gradually find their own survival mode .

The WTO has opened a door for industrial exports along the Yonghe Road in Yongnian County. There are numerous screw and nut advertisements everywhere, so that the early arrivals have a clear view of the developed economy of the county's fastener industry. "These advertisements are hundreds of fastener shops in seven or eight villages around." In the afternoon of November 16, with the author crossing Yonghe Road, Zhao Xianyong drew a big circle by hand. "From here The village of Hebeipu Village has a radius of ten miles.

However, as the vice president of the Yongnian County Standards Association, Zhao Xianyong thinks that it is Yongnan County's Southwest Industrial Zone. Into the industrial area, the author saw a piece of standardized steel structure on both sides of the road. "That is, in the past ten years, many enterprises in the county moved from the original small sheds into modern large-scale factories." said Zhao Yubo, deputy director of Handan Standard Parts Factory.

As the first person to sell fasteners locally, the change in the eyes of Zhao Daibo’s father, Zhao Daimin, in the eyes of the WTO is inseparable from the word “WTO”. "Before 2001, we did not even know how to call out foreign orders. Now you ask the company of Yongnian age, who still does not know?" It was in 2001 that Zhao Demin's factory received the first order for foreign trade.

Although this order has only one container of 20 tons of goods, worth about 50,000 yuan, after the payment is credited to the account, it will also pay 2% of the total foreign trade company's service fee, but after 3 months of shipment, Zhao Daimin will again Received 5 such orders, the price is much higher than domestic. The international market opened this way. “The ten years after the accession to the WTO was the fastest growing period for the fastener industry of Yongnian. After China’s entry into the WTO, many enterprises had the right to self-export and increased their own technological standards in accordance with the standards and requirements of the international market. Small workshops have developed into modern enterprises step by step.” Zhao Xianyong believes that if he does not participate in the competition in the international market, the vision of this industry will not be as broad as it is today.

Although the coexistence of modern factories and small family-owned factories still tells people the reality of the county's unique industries, Yongnian fasteners have been exported to Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe and the United States. The rapid expansion of industrial scale is indisputable. fact.

According to statistics from the relevant departments of Yongnian County, the county now has a total of more than 3,800 fastener manufacturers, tens of thousands of direct sales outlets in the field, and nearly 100,000 people engaged in distribution.

"In Yongnian, fasteners that grow to more than 3 meters long, bolts that are too big to hold, and micro nuts that are as small as a few millimeters can be purchased for more than 10,000 fasteners of various specifications." Zhao Xianyong said that The argument is no exaggeration.

From the processing of products for foreign trade companies to the start of bypassing foreign trade companies for direct export of self-export rights, Hengcheng Fasteners Co., Ltd. has its own professional foreign trade sales team for ten years. "In order to meet the needs of export, our company will invest 15% to 20% of the company's profits each year to hire translators and foreign trade salesmen." This is one of the biggest changes in the company's general manager Zhao Dehong's eyes over the past decade.

"Double-anti-" investigation forced export curve channel On the afternoon of November 17, Han Yong, a manager of a fastener factory in Yongnian County, was contacting customers in the Middle East and wanted customers to help him sell nuts to Greece.

Han Yong’s company has the right to self-export. Why should customers sell products to the third place?

“This is all about anti-dumping in the EU. Although exports to the European Union’s products are one to two hundred dollars more per ton of profit than other markets, it is not profitable to pay anti-dumping taxes.” Some companies have no choice but to take The products are exported to the Middle East and then exported to the EU.

It is understood that as early as 2007, the EU placed an anti-dumping investigation on certain fasteners that China exported to the European Union. If companies fail to respond to the EU, they must be forced to bear a high anti-dumping duty of 26.5% to 85%.

“At the beginning, EU anti-dumping measures have had little impact on most companies in the county. But now, as long as you do export, you will always encounter trade frictions. Only responding to the lawsuit can win reasonable tariffs,” said Li Shuangtian, director of the Yongnian County Bureau of Commerce. In order to encourage enterprises to respond, Yongnian County introduced a policy of supporting enterprises to respond.

“At the time, the EU anti-dumping investigation was aimed at carbon steel fasteners and it was a high-end product.” Zhao Shenglu, head of the trade development section of the Yongnian County Bureau of Commerce, said that most of the Yongping County's standard parts exports and products are not enough anti-dumping.

Zhao Shengjun presented the author with a data. Yongnian 44 companies have self-support import and export rights. At present, only 4 companies have exported more than 1 million US dollars.

On July 15, 2011, the WTO Appellate Body issued an adjudication report to support China's partial claim on anti-dumping measures for fasteners, marking China's success in suing the EU for anti-dumping measures against China's carbon steel fasteners. In spite of the success, Yongyue’s attempts to explore the international market have already shifted from the EU to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other regions. “These markets are dominated by medium- and low-end products and are more in line with the current status of Yongnian products.” Han Yong said.

In the eyes of some business operators, it is better to work hard to develop markets in Europe and the United States than in the domestic and Southeast Asian markets.

But good days are not kept by the guard. In 2007, the European Union’s anti-dumping investigations on fasteners caused traditional export-oriented fastener companies such as Jiaxing and Wenzhou in Zhejiang to shift their focus to open up the market. Since the financial crisis in 2008, the external demand has been weak and the domestic fastener market pressure has increased dramatically. “Although profit will lose 1 to 2 percentage points, it can open up new markets after all.” Han Yong said that he chose this curve export strategy to reduce export risks and also to cope with the fierce competition in the domestic fastener market.

The cost advantage no longer leads to a quiet transition. On the morning of November 18th, the author met Wang Jianming, a Wenzhou businessman, who came to sell fasteners in the standard shop market in Hebei.

"Three years ago, I brought in a number of advanced cold heading machines and equipment worth several hundred thousand yuan. In Yongnian, basically nobody buys my equipment. The price is too high. The most expensive equipment they usually use is tens of thousands of yuan. "Wang Jianming still remembers the words of the owner of a Yongnian nut production company at the time." At that time, he said, 'The standard part is a meager profit, 5% of profit per ton, earning several hundred dollars, raw material price increases plus a technical worker. Monthly wages, a good equipment for four or five hundred thousand, how many years can I earn back?'

However, this year, Wang Jianming unexpectedly discovered that although the market situation is grim, many fastener companies have had difficulties in surviving, but companies that have taken the initiative to ask him to update the price of equipment have more.

The owner of a fastener manufacturer in Yongnian County told the author that in the process of competing for domestic market with Jiaxing and other local enterprises, Yongnian's middle and low-end products are at a disadvantage, which forced him to consider updating and upgrading the existing production equipment and processes.

"I have spent more than 4,000 yuan to replace all the new equipment." Deputy Director of Factory of Fida Standards, Zhao Yubo, told the author that the new equipment has advanced technology and labor and materials. “In the past, our equipment produced 40 to 50 nuts a minute. Basically it was a turn of the wheel. When you clicked on a nut, you can now reach 200 in a minute. Listening to the sound is always, when, when. ."

"A lot of companies now want to replace equipment. Once there was a business owner who said that if he can successfully lend 10 million yuan from the bank, he will replace all the existing equipment." Wang Jianming said that there are still some SME owners want to To buy used equipment.

More and more companies wanting to update their equipment also let Wang Jianming decide to open a “4S” shop for fasteners in Yongnian.

Walking in the standard parts market of Yongnian, I can see the purchase and transfer of advertisements for used Taiwan-made cold heading machines.

In the afternoon of November 18th, when I saw Zhang Baode, Chairman of Korsboer Fasteners Co., Ltd., he was preparing for the signing ceremony of the joint venture company.

Zhang Baode's company is the leading enterprise of Yongnian fasteners. In order to promote the transformation of enterprises, with the support of the Yongnian County government, Kolbco contacted the same German company for 6 years, and the two sides established a joint venture company to jointly establish high-end production for aviation, aerospace, sedan, high-speed trains and other fields. Firmware reached an agreement.

Zhang Baode said that if we want to change the current situation of the low-end fastener industry, we must introduce the world's top fastener equipment.

“Actually, only more companies can participate in equipment upgrades to promote the transformation and upgrading of the entire industry.” Cui Xianmin, director of Yongnian County Standards Management Committee, has just come back from South Korea and his desk is full of Korean-made products. High-strength expansion screws. He is considering the upgrade and adjustment of the entire industry based on the status quo of the Yongnian standard parts industry.

According to reports, in order to accelerate the transformation and development of Yongnian Fastener Enterprises and upgrade the industry's grade and level, Yongnian Standard Parts Association has contacted experts from Shanghai Jiaotong University's School of Materials to prepare for the establishment of the Hebei Provincial Standards Research Institute. On November 19, the institute was formally established.

Observing the low-cost market scene and making it difficult to re-export transformation, opening the county economy is the cradle of the market economy. In Hebei, there are many places like Yongnian County, and early access to the dividends of the market economy brought about by reform and opening up has been enjoyed through the development of the county economy. It created a glorious industry and brought about prosperity for one of the people.

Relying on flexible operation and low cost, commodities with Hebei's local industry characteristics have gradually gained fame in the national market, and some have even crossed the ocean to the international market.

In the process of moving toward the international market, China's accession to the WTO has become a good opportunity for Hebei's county economic development, and it has also brought new challenges.

At the beginning of its accession to the WTO, labor-intensive industries and enterprises that once built the “comparative advantage” of the industrial chain with human capital and raw materials became cheap. However, over the past decade, the comparative advantage at that time was gradually lost, and economic globalization accelerated. Against this background, a serious problem lies ahead of us: With the growing intensification of trade frictions and trade protection, where does the export-oriented county economy and specialty industries go, and how can we have a better future?

In the interview of Yongnian, the author feels that although these companies have different choices for the development path, there is a consensus that it is necessary to learn to live internationally as soon as possible in order to maintain the good development of the company and seek greater space for development.

This needs to overcome the ideology of being rich and secure, establish global awareness, and dare to develop a larger market.

The county's characteristic industries that are rooted in the grass roots, because the business leaders are limited by the region and field of vision, generally have the idea of ​​being small and full. In the face of the general trend of economic globalization, they need to set a higher benchmark and strive to work hard in the high-end market. Gain experience, increase knowledge, and meet the competition in the international market with open minds. It is necessary to operate the international market as a domestic market, and to create an industrial development environment and expand the development space of the industry by integrating multiple resources.

This also needs to be brave enough to meet the challenges, do a good job of upgrading, and upgrade technology equipment and products as soon as possible to achieve transformation.

As a processing industry, production equipment process is life, determines the quality and grade of the product, which determines the market competitiveness of products, must make great efforts to do a good job of technological innovation, and constantly improve the ability of independent innovation. We must face the international market, increase the research and development of newer products, and accelerate the development of high value-added products.

In this process, it is necessary to take advantage of the leading role of leading companies, help companies introduce high-tech equipment, and upgrade their equipment through product updates. It is necessary for the government to increase support for the transformation and upgrading of traditional SMEs, and use advanced and practical technologies to transform and upgrade the advantages of traditional industries. We must give play to the role of external forces, intensify investment promotion, accelerate the introduction of more projects, technologies, and talents, improve the production of standard parts, and strive to achieve industrial transformation.

It can be foreseen that ten years after China's accession to the WTO, Hebei Province will have more trips to transform county-specific industries.