Wumart renders assistance to exporters

Wumart Group, a leading retailer based in Beijing, has begun introducing the first assortment of products sourced from exporting enterprises in its retail channel as part of a larger effort by retailers across the country to reduce inventory pressure on exporters and stimulate domestic consumption.

The move announced by the retailer on Sunday entails its Xueqing Road store in Beijing, but may be further expanded to other outlets.

In addition to the physical store offerings, Wumart also introduced the "foreign trade quality products zone" on the cloud supermarket on Dmall, the group's digital retail platform, offering more than a thousand such products online.

The newly added products span multiple categories, including home and kitchen essentials, daily necessities, and disposable items. About 50 percent of these offerings are sourced from exporters, with an additional 10 percent categorized as exclusive custom-made private labels for the retailers.

Among the items are some from suppliers for international retailers such as Walmart, Costco and Sam's Club.

How the business dynamics are shifting among suppliers is reflected in the survey released by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, during the news conference on Monday. The survey was conducted among over 1,100 foreign trade enterprises nationwide.

The findings indicate that surveyed enterprises said that the frequent changes in tariff policies have significantly increased uncertainty, making it difficult for businesses to make long-term plans.

However, with the support of the government's package of policies to stabilize foreign trade, these companies are actively seeking solutions and exploring new opportunities. Their strategies include looking for alternative markets to boost sales, expanding into the domestic market and enhancing the resilience of their supply chains, said the survey.

Retailers both domestically and internationally have shown support to trade enterprises, including Walmart China, which rolled out a "green channel" initiative last week. The program streamlines entry procedures and speeds up approvals, enabling qualified exporters to quickly bring their products into Walmart China's domestic retail ecosystem.

Yonghui Superstores, another major retailer, had received over 500 cooperation inquiries and entered discussions with more than 300 high-quality supply chain companies by last Tuesday.

The Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau recently announced new policies aimed at supporting foreign trade companies to expand their online consumer access and coordinate with retailers to provide free exhibition and marketing spaces. The initiative aims to build a service platform to encourage more quality export-oriented enterprises to broaden their consumer markets in Fengtai district in Beijing.

Efforts to connect exporters and retailers have gained momentum nationwide. According to Xinhua News Agency, in Hubei province, a group of prominent retailers including JD and Wushang Group signed an agreement worth 14.5 billion yuan ($2 billion) on Saturday to support export-oriented enterprises in selling their products through their outlets across the country.

At Wumart in Beijing, export-oriented businesses can rapidly be onboarded through a fast-track system, completing the entire process from qualification submission to product launch within three working days.

Wumart also enhances inventory management through a logistics network. This system supports small-batch ordering, mitigating inventory risks for export-oriented enterprises.