(Photo: Nanfang Daily)

As a significant supply chain hub of international trade, Guangzhou has seen steady growth of foreign trade with a year-on-year 4.1% increase in total import and export value in the first two months this year.

Under the circumstance of Covid-19, however, many foreign trade enterprises are still facing difficulties, such as shortages of containers, poor schedule reliability and delivery delays, as well as the skyrocketing cost of shipping in all kinds of transportation.

Therefore, Guangzhou has announced a plan to roll out a series of measures to improve the consistency of supply chains as to coordinate the epidemic prevention and control with social and economic development.

According to the plan, Guangzhou will focus on improving its capacity of air, sea and land freight  and providing financial and land support to key enterprises for launching new freight routes.

A new subsidy policy to prop up Guangzhou’s air cargo markets is also expected to be launched soon. With increased subsidies, Guangzhou is likely to see more cargo aircraft and air shipping routes. The city also aims to attract more high-quality freight forwarding companies to Baiyun Airport.

From April, Port of Guangzhou will further reduce its port charges. Liner companies around the world that decide to launch new freight routes from this port will also be rewarded financially or by other incentives.

Guangzhou is also planning to have more freight trains leaving for countries along the Belt and Road, as China-Euro freight trains have now become an important component of the global supply chain.

At the same time, more meticulous epidemic prevention measures will be implemented to minimize the negative impact on businesses.