"We're on the verge of July, and preparations for participating in international exhibitions in Mexico and Peru are in full swing. Vigorously exploring new markets and continuously increasing the sales volume and market share of our products internationally is the company's key focus this year," said Tian Li, Deputy Manager of the Overseas Sales Department at Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group Rubber Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yanchang Rubber"), on June 18.

Just over a month ago, Yanchang Rubber brought its products to the first Turkmenistan-China Business Forum and Exhibition and an international trade show held in West Africa. They secured orders and gathered information on potential customers. "As long as a customer places an initial order, we are confident we can turn them into a repeat buyer," Tian Li remarked cheerfully, adding, "Our customer churn rate is close to zero."

In overseas markets, sales volume and revenue from Yanchang Rubber's products account for over 60% and over 50% of the company's total domestic and international sales volume and total revenue, respectively. Despite significant pressure on the domestic rubber product industry in the international market over the past two years due to global trade conditions, sales of tires produced by Yanchang Rubber have maintained growth internationally. In 2025, the company exported 5.4 million tires, a year-on-year increase of 25.74%. In the first five months of this year, exports reached 2.19 million tires, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%, making the company a major exporter in Shaanxi.

"When enterprises are dynamic, the economy is dynamic; when enterprises prosper, the economy prospers." Shaanxi, an inland province, has demonstrated resilience and potential in international trade in recent years. In 2025, the province's total goods imports and exports continued an accelerating growth trend, with trade volume exceeding the 500 billion yuan mark for the first time, reaching a record high and a growth rate surpassing the national average by over 10 percentage points. This year, Shaanxi's foreign trade is leading the pack; in the first five months, exports reached 287.85 billion yuan, a year-on-year surge of 103.3%.

Yanchang Rubber has contributed significantly to these impressive figures. As a local tire manufacturer in Shaanxi, the company embarked on its "going global" journey over a decade ago. This move aimed not only to break through fierce industry competition but also to deeply integrate into the co-construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework. Its products were first sold to North America, Southeast Asia, and South Korea, and later reached markets in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Leveraging the deepening progress of BRI cooperation, Yanchang Rubber established a Central Asia office in the capital of Uzbekistan and launched a dedicated Yanchang Petroleum product train on the China-Europe Railway Express (Xi'an), opening the door to the Central Asian market. In 2023, Yanchang Rubber sold 96,700 tires in Central Asia, a year-on-year sales volume increase of 133.88%; in 2024, sales reached 216,500 tires, up 124% year-on-year; and in 2025, sales hit 300,200 tires, a year-on-year increase of 38.6%.

Yanchang Rubber is developing steadily in the Central Asian market and ventured into Turkmenistan for the first time this year. Breakthroughs are not limited to Central Asia. This year, the company's product sales volumes in the Asia-Pacific and ASEAN regions have seen steady growth, and it successfully signed new clients in the Russian market.

What is the secret to this development?

"The strong development momentum is inseparable from Shaanxi's continuous opening-up and the company's own transformation, upgrading, and capacity expansion," said Pan Jindong, Head of Yanchang Rubber's Domestic Sales Department. Previously, production capacity for large-size, high-end tire series was tight; the company hesitated to take many orders and faced delivery pressure. Now, with new equipment fully operational, capacity can keep up and quality is guaranteed. Even with urgent or large orders from clients, the company can handle them steadily.

Expanding high-level opening-up is a key lever for Shaanxi to promote high-quality development. From expanding institutional opening-up and accelerating infrastructure connectivity, to smoothing international trade freight channels and building high-level platforms for opening up, to deepening international production capacity cooperation and fostering mutual understanding and affinity. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Shaanxi is accelerating its transformation from an inland hinterland to an opening-up frontier, opening new horizons through open development. Seizing this favorable trend, Yanchang Rubber also put its transformation and upgrading on the agenda.

In October 2025, Yanchang Rubber's project for the structural optimization and upgrading of a 3 million-unit semi-steel radial tire production line was completed, raising capacity from 5 million units to 8 million units. This year, Yanchang Rubber also commissioned a new fully automatic two-stage building machine, effectively addressing issues of insufficient manual operation precision and unstable quality. A gantry-based automatic sorting system was installed in the semi-steel finished product warehouse, significantly improving sorting efficiency.

While capacity expanded, the product mix was also optimized. "Focusing on market demand and cutting-edge industry technology, the company plans to develop 112 new products this year, covering various models such as high-performance electric vehicle tires, low-flatness metric tires, and tires for specialized operating conditions. So far, over 40 new products have been developed," said Ye Qiang, Deputy General Manager of Yanchang Rubber Company.

These continuously upgraded products have won customers for Yanchang Rubber. This year, the company is further deeply integrating into the global industrial and supply chains, producing high-end products for leading international enterprises in the industry. "Our overseas sales target for this year is 6 million tires, an increase of about 10% compared to 2025," said Wang Guoqiang, Deputy General Manager of Yanchang Rubber Company.

To achieve this goal, Yanchang Rubber is strengthening cooperation with Chinese-funded enterprises deeply engaged in foreign markets, leveraging each other's strengths for mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. "We are already seeing some results, especially in the African region," Wang Guoqiang said.