Two major historical events related to the foreign trade, shipping, and logistics industry



1. The BRICS countries have welcomed six new members in their expansion today, with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Iran, and Ethiopia officially becoming members of the BRICS family. The "BRICS countries" initially referred to Brazil, Russia, India, and China. In December 2010, the four countries officially absorbed South Africa into the mechanism through consensus.


2. At present, more than 40 countries have expressed their willingness to join the BRICS cooperation mechanism, of which 23 countries have submitted formal applications, including Indonesia and Türkiye.


3. Some major cooperation mechanisms and important affairs of the BRICS countries:

-Leaders' Meeting: Since 2009, BRICS leaders have held an official meeting every year, known as the BRICS Leaders' Summit. These summits provide a platform for leaders of member countries to discuss global political and economic issues, promote economic cooperation, and share development experiences.

-Foreign Ministers' Meeting: In addition to the Leaders' Summit, BRICS foreign ministers also hold regular meetings to discuss international and regional issues of common concern.

-BRICS New Development Bank: In 2014, BRICS countries established the New Development Bank with the aim of providing financing to member countries and other emerging markets and developing economies, supporting infrastructure construction and sustainable development projects.

-Currency Reserve Arrangements: In response to potential financial crises, the BRICS countries have also established a currency reserve arrangement that allows currency swaps between member countries.

-Other departmental meetings: In addition to the aforementioned meetings, BRICS countries also have various cooperation mechanisms in other fields such as economy, trade, health, education, agriculture, culture, etc. These mechanisms promote experience exchange and cooperation among member states.

-Economic and trade cooperation: BRICS countries also seek to strengthen economic and trade cooperation, reduce trade barriers, and safeguard their own interests in the multilateral trading system.

In addition, as time goes by, cooperation between BRICS countries is constantly deepening and expanding, involving more fields and issues.


4. Under the weak demand in Europe and America, Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Iran, and Ethiopia are the incremental markets that we can pay more attention to for foreign trade import and export international logistics.


5. Whether it is the BRICS mechanism or the strategic expansion of the the Belt and Road, the industrial upgrading of China's manufacturing industry can be explained by the smile curve. The Smile Curve was proposed by Acer founder Shi Zhenrong. This curve is shaped like a smile, where both ends of the curve represent the high value-added parts of the industry chain, such as research and development design and market sales, while the middle part of the curve represents the production and manufacturing process, with relatively low value-added. Made in China has largely been at the bottom of this curve in the past few decades. However, with the development of technology and economic growth, China is striving to extend its industry from the middle of the smile curve to both ends, upgrading from manufacturing to design, brand building, and backend services. At the same time, market shifts are also taking place. With the increase in labor costs and the strengthening of environmental regulations in China, some labor-intensive and heavily polluting industries have begun to shift to Southeast Asia and other low-cost countries. However, China has maintained its position as a global manufacturing center through technological innovation and industrial chain upgrading, while achieving new breakthroughs in higher value-added sectors.


6. Another thing that more people know is that Japan's nuclear wastewater is officially discharged into the sea today and will spread to China in 240 days. Even triggered a wave of salt hoarding following the trend? Citizens in many parts of China are rushing for salt, and supermarket shelves have been emptied. Multiple apps also show that they have been emptied and waiting for restocking. Zhang Yanqian, a professor and doctoral supervisor at Dalian Maritime University Law School, stated that unlike South Korea, edible salt in China mainly comes from well salt and does not involve polluted areas. Residents do not need to hoard salt excessively. Due to the increase in health risks, the number of people seeking medical insurance for critical illnesses has also increased significantly. However, more important than buying health insurance is the comprehensive and scientific management of diet, rest, mood, and exercise, as well as the health management throughout the entire life cycle.


7. While condemning Japan for discharging nuclear wastewater, Chinese customs has now announced a comprehensive suspension of imports of Japanese aquatic products. The customs stated that in order to comprehensively prevent the risk of radioactive pollution caused by the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, protect the health of Chinese consumers, and ensure the safety of imported food, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China and its implementation regulations, the Measures for the Administration of Import and Export Food Safety of the People's Republic of China, and the Agreement on the Implementation of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of the World Trade Organization, The General Administration of Customs has decided to completely suspend the import of aquatic products (including edible aquatic animals) originating from Japan from August 24, 2023 (inclusive).


8. According to the 2022 Japanese Fisheries White Paper, the main export destinations are Chinese Mainland (22.5% of the total), Hong Kong (19.5%) and the United States (13.9%), which account for more than 50% of the total exports. From a variety perspective, scallops (accounting for 23.5% of the total), carp (9.4%), and pearls (6.1%) rank among the top. The Japanese government has set a target of 1.2 trillion yen in aquatic product exports by 2030, with yellow tail fish, snapper, scallops, pearls, and koi as priority projects. This goal will obviously be lost due to Japan's own selfishness. Can some Japanese food stores that claim to focus on importing ingredients by air from Japan be closed now?