Foreign Trade And Countermeasures In Linyi City, Shandong Province

Ever since China joined WTO, the opening degree of the market has been improved. Theexport volume of Shandong province has been increasing annually and the scale of trade is alsoexpanding. In this general background, Linyi has also achieved a rapid development. Currently,it has speeded up to integrate with the international market. In modern society, foreign trade andexport is a crucial factor for the survival and development of a region or a city.On one hand, in recent years, both foreign enterprises and government of Linyi have madegood use of the resources from international and domestic market. What’s more, with the correctguidance of the Linyi municipal government and with the principle of scientific outlook ondevelopment, the foreign trade of Linyi has been increased rapidly with the goal of “great Linyi,new Linyi”.On the other hand, since Linyi has a relatively weak foundation, the development offoreign trade in Linyi is still in the middle of a primary stage. With a small proportion in theGDP of Linyi it’s far from being mature. Therefore, the growth of foreign trade in Linyi has greatpotential. Meanwhile, the complicated international situation also poses new challenges anddifficulties to the foreign trade in Linyi. Therefore, research on the relevant aspects of foreigntrade in Linyi is of great importance.Based on the statistic of foreign trade in Linyi from2003to2012, the development statusof foreign trade in Linyi is analyzed from five aspects: the total volume of foreign trade, theexport trade patterns, the composition of export regions, commodity structure of foreign trade,and the foreign trade of neighboring towns and counties around Linyi. From2003to2012, theforeign trade of Linyi has maintained a steady growth. Six features are summarized.The development of Linyi drives the economy and foreign trade in Linyi, yet it can’t beseparate from the support of the government. The problems concerning the foreign developmentin Linyi are discussed: the unbalanced structure of foreign trade industry, the high concentrationof export market, the problems of foreign trade company, and the problems caused by financialcrisis, the shrink of export market. The major factors that affect the foreign trade in Linyi aresummarized: economical development level, dependency on foreign trade, commodity structureof foreign trade, international environment, domestic environment, regional policies, andgeographical elements in Linyi.The solutions for the further development of foreign trade in Linyi are proposed: continueto optimize the commodity structure of foreign trade, expand the processing trade, makeendeavors to bring in new productive technologies, bring in excellent talents, reduce the proportion of primary commodities, adopt diverse strategies in the market, give full play to thehigh tech industries in driving the economic growth, strength the role of leading enterprises,accelerate the investment promotion strategy. The government should provide police supportthrough releasing laws and regulations.