The opening ceremony for a foreign trade plan and a meeting of 100 key foreign trade enterprises was held in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, on Aug 12.

Local media reported that a group of 56 influential foreign trade enterprises had been formally awarded, which will offer them certain benefits in terms of taxes, customs clearance, insurance, foreign exchange, finance and business.

Ningbo plans to develop these enterprises into comprehensive foreign trade enterprises with more imports and exports, strong development, and an excellent business model.

This is the second round of foreign trade projects launched by Ningbo since 2013. The first batch of 18 enterprises, which were referred to as key "seed players", are now the backbone of foreign trade in the city.

In an effort to support foreign trade enterprises amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Ningbo also helped them resume work and production. It also supported small and medium-sized enterprises and worked to stabilize foreign trade.