In recent years, Xiamen in Fujian province has accelerated the construction of supply chains - the backbone of the economy and a booster for the market - to help enterprises reduce costs and increase efficiency, promote urban renewal and improve people's livelihoods.

Listed among the first batch of pilot cities for supply chain innovation and application in China, Xiamen is home to nine national demonstration enterprises and three State-owned giants: C&D Inc, Xiamen ITG Holding Group Co Ltd and Xiangyu Group, which are comprehensive supply chain providers that integrate flows of logistics, capital, information and business.

An aerial view of Xiangyu Group. [Photo/WeChat account: xiamen_swj]

After the Xiamen Special Economic Zone was established in 1980, a growing number of foreign trade enterprises started to emerge in the city.

Domestic companies had a large and stable demand for commodities such as steel, coal and rubber at that time, and based on the resource advantages in import and export channels, the three giants consolidated their main bulk commodity businesses.

Chen Xinhuang, general manager of the supply chain management department at ITG, said in the 1990s, with the transformation and upgrading of the steel industry, steel mills and ITG's major clients in the early days gradually changed from extensive operations to refined development. "We must extend our services accordingly," he said.

"From simple sales to deep involvement in upstream and downstream enterprises, we rely on the supply chain and service to grow," Chen added.

Policy support

In April 2018, the Ministry of Commerce issued the Notice on Carrying out Pilot Projects of Supply Chain Innovation and Application, which Xiamen used as a blueprint to map out its own plan.

Chen Min, then deputy director of the management committee of the Xiamen Area of the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone, said the government will provide whatever services the supply chain companies need.

The government's support of policies, talent cultivation and exchanges has fueled the company's robust development and enhanced the market confidence, said Wang Zhibing, deputy general manager of C&D Inc. 

Promoting the digital transformation of the supply chain is also a key approach. For example, Xiamen has built a traceable management system for fresh food in which the supply chain of fish is supervised during breeding, processing and transportation stages.