On the morning of August 30, the unveiling ceremony of Qingdao Haifa International Trade Co., Ltd. and the signing ceremony for strategic and project cooperation were successfully held. Wang Bo, Member of the Standing Committee of the Qingdao Municipal Committee and Vice Mayor of Qingdao; Gao Shanwu, Deputy Secretary of the Working Committee of the Qingdao West Coast New Area and Director of the Management Committee of the Free Trade Zone; as well as representatives from relevant units stationed in Qingdao, municipal departments, and enterprises attended the event. Prior to the event, a seminar on the construction planning of Qingdao’s Shipping-Trade-Finance Integrated Service Platform was held. Participants engaged in in-depth discussions around the theme of “benchmarking against leading domestic trade enterprises, integrating city-wide resources, and building a Shipping-Trade-Finance Integrated Service Platform.”
The establishment of Haifa International Trade marks the official entry into the operational phase of Qingdao’s state-owned capital strategic layout in the shipping-trade-finance sector. By integrating domestic and international resources such as the Bonded Logistics Center and Hong Kong’s Ruigang Construction, it systematically builds an industrial ecosystem with deep integration of “shipping + trade + finance,” injecting new momentum into the strategic layout of Qingdao’s state-owned capital in the shipping-trade-finance field.
Strategic Planning Leading the Construction of an International Shipping Center
Under the strategic opportunities presented by global economic integration and the deepening development of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, the Qingdao Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have taken the construction of an international shipping center as a strategic pivot, entrusting the Haifa Group with the new main mission of “shipping logistics and international trade.” They require the group to rely on the construction of a shipping-trade-finance integrated service platform to reverse the shortcoming of “strong port but weak shipping,” use high-end shipping services as the core driver, achieve global shipping resource allocation, and accelerate Qingdao’s transformation and upgrading into a trade port, financial port, and service port.
Based on its new mission, the Haifa Group has established Haifa International Trade as a core operational vehicle. With the strategic development goal of “supporting the construction of Qingdao International Shipping Center and becoming a first-class domestic integrated service provider for shipping-trade logistics and modern supply chains,” it courageously undertakes the roles of builder of the shipping-trade-finance integrated service platform, demonstrator of the shipping-trade logistics industrial ecosystem, supply chain supporter for “upgrading traditional manufacturing and scaling emerging industries,” and enabler promoting the integrated and high-quality development of “port-industry-city.” Following the development strategy of “first warehouse, then goods, then finance,” it promotes the implementation of the “1+2+3” industrial development system. “1” refers to undertaking the function of the Haifa Group’s state-owned capital investment and operation platform to implement investment empowerment and development in the shipping logistics and international trade industries; “2” refers to leveraging the core functions of two informatization platforms—the supply chain cross-border trade service platform and the Yicang Shipping Service Platform—through technological and business model innovation to empower industrial development; “3” refers to focusing on business synergy to build three centers: a cross-border trade centralized procurement center with Hong Kong Main Board-listed Ruigang Construction as the main body, a supply chain finance center with Haifa Finance as the main body, and a shipping logistics service center with the Bonded Logistics Center as the main body. This forms an industrial ecosystem with synergistic development of “shipping warehousing logistics, international cross-border trade, and supply chain financial services,” aiming to achieve a trillion-yuan industrial chain scale by the end of the “16th Five-Year Plan” period and solidify the实体根基 (entity foundation) of Qingdao’s shipping-trade-finance integrated service platform.
Focusing on Breakthroughs to Build a Full-Chain Industrial Ecosystem
On the solid foundation of top-level design guided by strategy, the Haifa Group focuses on major project breakthroughs to accelerate the layout of the实体产业 (entity industry).
Adhering to major project acquisitions to solidify the foundation, it accelerates the integration of projects like the Bonded Logistics Center and strengthens cold chain storage, circulation, and processing services, gradually improving the cold chain logistics network layout. It actively explores cross-border online supply chain services, relying on the resources of the Bonded Logistics Center project to carry out supply chain business cooperation with Yicang Technology Company. By connecting shipping companies and small and medium-sized freight forwarders through a digital platform, it achieves full-chain services such as sea freight booking and freight rate inquiries, enhancing the international level of Qingdao’s shipping logistics. It cooperates to expand bulk commodity supply chain businesses such as “agriculture, energy, and minerals,” deepening cooperation with Shanghai Gangxin Energy Group. Using bulk oil supply chain trade as an entry point, it explores a synergistic development model for supply chain finance and trade, promoting Qingdao’s role as a regional distribution center for bulk commodities. It deepens synergy with leading chain master enterprises within the province: deepening cooperation with Tsingtao Brewery around agricultural product imports, PET plastic pellets, and condiment storage, with the first batch of containers already入库 (put into storage); jointly打通 (opening up) the entire export chain for electronic components with Hisense Group, achieving deep synergy in scenarios such as warehousing logistics services, freight forwarding services, and supply chain finance;携手 (joining hands with) Qilu Yunshang Company of Shandong Energy Group to deepen cooperation, achieving联动发展 (linked development) in multiple fields including energy bulk cargo trade, warehousing logistics services, supply chain financial services, and digital-intelligent system development.
Innovation and Empowerment Driving Shipping-Trade-Finance Service Upgrades
To accelerate the construction of a modern shipping trade service system, the Haifa Group focuses on financial empowerment, digital-intelligent transformation, and open collaboration to comprehensively enhance service capabilities.
It strengthens targeted efforts in supply chain finance, actively promoting the transformation and expansion of financial business towards new businesses and ecosystems, deepening internal and external collaborative cooperation within the group, tailoring supply chain financial solutions for internal trade sectors such as Yicang Technology and Shenzhen Defu Supply Chain, and simultaneously innovating factoring business models in collaboration with Qingdao Yihangdao and market-oriented commercial factoring companies to create a more competitive financial service ecosystem. It enhances technological empowerment to deepen全链升级 (full-chain upgrade) by building the “Haifa Yunshang” smart supply chain platform, integrating core functions such as resource organization and logistics optimization to achieve visual control of the entire trade process; building a blockchain technology platform to打通 (open up) key links such as warehouse receipt confirmation and cargo ownership tracing, cooperating with Shanghai Commercial Paper Exchange to support blockchain warehouse receipt pledge financing and enhance financial risk control levels; constructing a “park + platform + capacity” smart logistics network, using AI algorithms to optimize vehicle scheduling and route planning, and improving vehicle turnover efficiency. It deepens open collaboration to activate global布局 (layout), jointly building an enterprise出海服务 (going global service) platform with a Microsoft agency, integrating Microsoft advertising and cloud services to provide enterprise出海解决方案 (going global solutions), supporting offline enterprise出海展示中心 (going global exhibition centers) and cross-border talent cultivation, maximizing the synergistic advantages with the RCEP center, and enhancing enterprises’ overseas customer acquisition capabilities; jointly establishing a 10 billion yuan Qingdao Shipping-Trade Logistics Industry Fund with China Merchants Capital, focusing on investing in and laying out core industries such as shipping, trade, and logistics, accelerating the gathering of high-quality resources in the industrial chain, and injecting new momentum into Qingdao’s open economy.
In the future, the Haifa Group will rely on the platform’s functions, adhering to the principle of “having what others don’t, excelling where others are present, and specializing where others excel,” upholding the development philosophy of “positioning, empowering, building platforms, and establishing ecosystems,” deepening open cooperation, promoting resource sharing and complementary advantages, accelerating the connection to international industrial and supply chain resources, focusing on building a modern shipping trade logistics industrial system, and promoting Qingdao’s efforts to build a highland for modern marine economic development. (Lin Yi)
