Supply chain model helps Linyi Trade City go global in groups, says entrepreneur
Zhou Yiping, chairman of Yimaotong International Holding Co Ltd and its national and global supply chain public service platform, said the internationalization of Linyi Trade City "is not an optional question but a mandatory one" for the city, and that the Linyi International Product Selection Center is the answer to that question.
"The most core innovation of the selection center is the 'chain leader plus chain member' supply chain organization model," Zhou said in an interview as the center was launched. Chain leaders are the leading enterprises in Linyi's local product sectors, while chain members are supporting main suppliers, contract factories and supplying enterprises. One chain leader drives about ten chain members into a small supply chain unit, so gathering 300 chain leader enterprises can link 3,000 chain member entities. Foreign buyers then no longer need to visit 136 markets to select products one by one, but can reach the entire supply system through a chain leader, achieving one-stop sourcing.
Zhou said the center's ultimate goals are to become a national supply chain organization center, a global order center and a trade facilitation platform, with supply chain organization as the foundation, global orders as the core and trade facilitation as the guarantee. Linyi will rely on its industry belts and logistics consolidation advantages to build a sourcing and supply chain integration hub for foreign trade north of the Yangtze River, and plans to bring in 200 foreign trade procurement institutions by recruiting global partners.
The center has already cultivated more than 370 consolidators, aims to bring in 200 foreign trade institutions and cultivate 50 large-scale consolidators within the year, and is positioning itself across six trade regions: Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, the Middle East, Russian-speaking areas, Africa, and Europe and the United States. Its digital platform integrates industry, supply, capital and service chains through front, middle and back offices to connect domestic and international markets.
Zhou offered differentiated advice for companies going global: micro, small and medium-sized enterprises can test the waters through the market procurement trade model; medium-sized enterprises above designated size can build dedicated supply chains for customized exports; and leading enterprises can participate in international tenders to win large orders.
Speaking of the Yimeng spirit, Zhou said it shares a common thread with the Yiwu and Zhejiang merchant spirits in emphasizing hard work, enterprise and creating something from nothing. Building the international selection center, he said, is a vivid practice of the Yimeng spirit in the commercial field in the new era.
Editor：韩蒙蒙