The Chinese government and local companies are stepping up efforts to stabilize the global supply chain despite the impact brought by the novel coronavirus epidemic.

COSCO Shipping Aries, which can carry 20,000 containers, departs from Ningbo port in east China’s Zhejiang province on March 2. (Photo/China COSCO Shipping Corporation)

The government’s policies aimed at facilitating foreign trade are paying off as Chinese foreign trade companies speed up the recovery of their business operations.

Nearly all major foreign firms in provincial regions, including Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanghai, have resumed production, said Li Xingqian, director of the foreign trade department under the Ministry of Commerce, on March 13.

China will continue to work with its trade partners to ensure stability in the global industrial chain and supply chain, and encourage cooperation between Chinese firms and companies across the world, Li added.

East China’s Shandong province is home to about 90 percent of South Korean-funded manufacturers of wire harnesses, which occupy an important position in the global automobile supply chain. The province has made great efforts to help these companies resume production.

Recently, the province received a letter of thanks from South Korea, praising the 32 manufacturers of wire harnesses in the province that had all resumed production by Feb. 15.

Meanwhile, action has also been taken to ensure smooth logistics operations. More than 90 percent of China-Europe freight trains have resumed operations, according to the National Development and Reform Commission on March 8.

Over 1,000 subsidiaries of China COSCO Shipping Corporation have gone back to work since Feb. 10 to help maintain normal international trade.

In the first two months of this year, COSCO Shipping secured a transport volume of 190 million tons. The corporation’s data shows that imports and exports by Chinese companies, including Haier, Hisense and Midea, are underway.

Carrying 20,000 containers, COSCO Shipping’s container vessel Aries sails into major European ports from Chinese ports every week, carrying exports of electronic products, clothes and furniture, among others, to Europe.

ASSA ABLOY Automatic Door System (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. in Suzhou, east China’s Jiangsu province, brought production back to normal capacity on Feb. 19. The company exports 90 percent of its products to Europe, America and Southeast Asia.

“We have received more overseas orders compared with last year,” said Jin Ming, head of the company. “It’s growth in real terms, as we only arrange production after the orders are placed.”

Sales are expected to soar 50 percent in March compared to the same period last year, Jin added.