XM foreign trade hits a record high

The city of Xiamen announced last week that Xiamen's total foreign trade volume in 2023 reached a record-high 947 billion yuan, up 2.7 percent year-on-year. Xiamen ranked fourth among China's 15 sub-provincial cities.

General trade imports and exports totaled 707.6 billion yuan, growing by 4.8 percent and surpassing the national average by 2.8 percentage points. The city's foreign trade sector encompassed almost 37,000 import and export enterprises, including more than 3,500 new entities established last year. Private enterprises accounted for nearly 90 percent of the total.

Xiamen's foreign trade network covers the world, with 11 new trade partners relative to 2022. The city's trade with its top three partners – Asean countries, the European Union and the U.S. -- totaled 421.9 billion yuan, accounting for 44.6 percent of its total trade volume.

Trade with emerging markets also grew. Transactions with countries associated with the Belt and Road Initiative reached 460.7 billion yuan, an increase of 1.4 percent. Trade with RCEP member countries hit 315.6 billion yuan, growing by 0.03 percent. Trade with BRICS nations reached 109.2 billion yuan, up 14.4 percent year-on-year.

The city of Xiamen last week honored Hithium Energy Storage as the first local startup to reach benchmarks typically reserved for so-called unicorn enterprises -- a startup that is less than 10 years old and that is valued at more than one billion dollars. Established four years ago, Hithium Energy Storage's annual output value exceeds 10 billion yuan.

The National Intellectual Property Administration recently designated an additional seven local firms as National Intellectual Property Demonstration Enterprises and 33 additional area companies as Advantage Enterprises. Xiamen is currently home to 27 National Intellectual Property Demonstration Enterprises and 76 Advantage Enterprises.

The Kulangsu Gallery of Foreign Artefacts from the Palace Museum Collection last week debuted a new exhibition entitled The Sound of Harmony. The exhibition features musical instruments of the imperial court from the Palace Museum collection.

The exhibit includes more than 40 musical instruments dating from the Spring and Autumn Period up through the Qing dynasty, collectively spanning 3,000 years. The exhibition runs through July 20.

The Institute of Science and Technological Information of China, a part of the Ministry of Science and Technology, recently released a report assessing Chinese cities on their ability to cultivate innovation capability. Xiamen ranked 19th on the list of China's top 100 cities for innovation.

The assessment deemed “national innovative cities” to be municipalities that offer independent innovation capabilities, scientific and technological support and leadership, high-level sustainable economic and social development and significant regional radiation and driving effects.

The Ministry of Science and Technology evaluates cities every year based on 30 indicators in categories such as innovation governance, innovation capability, technological innovation capability, achievement transformation capability and innovation driving force.

Xiamen Port last week hosted a ceremony to celebrate the launch of its Caribbean Express Line from the port's Songyu container terminal.

The new route is one of the fastest sea routes from Xiamen to America's east coast. The weekly route, which is operated by Zim Integrated Shipping Services, offers the quickest direct shipping services from Xiamen to destinations such as Cartagena (Colombia) and Lazaro Cardena (Mexico) as well as Boston and Baltimore. The route reduces transit time by more than seven days compared to similar services.

Port authorities said that the Caribbean Express Line will enhance the quality of Xiamen Port's east-west mainline services and rapidly deliver more Chinese products to Baltimore, one of the largest e-commerce hubs on America's East Coast.

Xiamen University's visitor center recently announced that it doubled to 2,000 the number of available weekday visitor appointments. Additionally, visit slots available on weekends and during winter and summer vacations increased to 8,000. Public holiday visits will increase to 15,000 slots.

Representatives of the Xiamen Horticulture Expo Garden in Jimei announced earlier this month the arrival of a significant number of cormorants. Thousands of the birds flock to area waters to overwinter. Garden officials added that the region's ecological environment is on the upswing. The area's robust fish supply attracts many cormorants migrating south to spend the winter.

Local authorities last week announced the completion of the 10,900-ton steel structure roof truss of the terminal building for the upcoming airport in Xiangan. The main steel structure of the terminal concourse is now fully capped. All the connecting parts of the steel structure to the terminal main building are also complete.

Xiangan Central Park will become the largest comprehensive park in Xiangan when it opens later this year. The 34-hectare park is in the Xiyanshan-Xiangshan Green Corridor, one of Xiamen's top ten ecological corridors.

Primary landscaping for the project is complete, including 25 hectares of new green space and 10 kilometers of walking trails. The plant's variety of flowers were selected to bloom throughout the year. An observation platform at the highest point of the park will provide sweeping overviews.

Huli recently conducted China's first national waste classification carbon emission reduction trading project. The classification of four types of household waste in the Jinan Community on Jinshan street led to a carbon emission reductions of more than 10,000 tons.

Authorities described the project as an exploration of carbon-inclusive projects related to waste classification in local communities. Officials added that Xiamen is at the forefront of waste classification and carbon emission reduction in China.

The city of Wuhan recently hosted a highway construction conference and an awards ceremony bestowing engineering awards for highway projects from 2022 and 2023. The Xiamen Second West Channel (Haicang Tunnel) earned a Highway Traffic Quality Engineering Award, making it the only project in Xiamen to receive the honor. The project was undertaken by the Xiamen Road and Bridge Group.