The trade promotion council of Zhoushan in Zhejiang province recently helped local foreign trade companies exhibit their goods and make transactions online to survive the COVID-19 epidemic. 

Due to the fast spread of the epidemic, many of these companies are unable to attend overseas trade fairs, posing a big threat for them as they can’t tap into the international market. 

For example, Sunsun Group, a local company specializing in aquarium products and pet supplies, attends many overseas trade exhibitions every year. Most of its clients are from those exhibitions and comprise more than 50 percent of its exports. 

With the help of the trade promotion council of Zhoushan, the company was able to exhibit and sell its products to foreign buyers on an online platform set up by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. 

"Seven foreign trade companies applied for the chance and five were selected, focusing on aquarium products, pet supplies, cleaning tools and electric appliances," said an official from the Zhoushan council.

The council also helped 20 local foreign trade companies gain free access to some digital services provided by Meorient, a company based in Zhejiang that focuses on organizing overseas trade exhibitions for domestic companies. 

"We will next try to get financial support from the provincial trade promotion council to help our foreign trade companies gain the chance to attend Meorient's online exhibitions targeting six overseas markets this year," the official added.