The local government of Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province, has been making efforts to overcome the adverse effects of the COVID-19 epidemic and develop its foreign trade.

From January to May this year, foreign trade in Yiwu saw a year-on-year increase of 43.7 percent to 183.14 billion yuan ($27.29 billion).

Many merchants at the Yiwu International Trade Market suffered due to the epidemic this year.

Liu Jinming, owner of a hardware and bathroom product shop at the Yiwu International Trade Market, said they have lost many orders this year due to recent outbreaks, rising prices of raw materials and unstable logistics.

Two months ago, Liu's shop started holding livestreams twice a week on the e-commerce platform of the Yiwu International Trade Market with a series of promotional events, helping attract new buyers.

The local government also launched a digital trade comprehensive service platform for Yiwu Small Commodities Markets to expand domestic and foreign procurement resources and provide digital international warehousing, logistics, payment, booking and other trade services for merchants.

So far, more than 60,000 bricks-and-mortar stores and 2.1 million registered buyers have registered on the digital trade platform. Meanwhile, relevant government departments of Yiwu, such as commerce, customs and finance, released various measures to ease the burden on merchants and optimize the business environment.