1 Background of research
With the establishment of China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the implementation of the “One Belt, One Road” strategy, as well as the reform and opening up, Dongguan and even the Pearl River Delta (PRD) international trade industry has attracted a new world, which will prompt the demand for international trade talents in the PRD region to gradually expand. The task of this research is to investigate the demand for international trade professionals in Dongguan and even in the Pearl River Delta region, and on this basis to propose the development of international trade majors in Dongguan higher vocational education level.
2 Analysis of research results
2.1 The development of international trade industry
Since entering the 21st century, China’s international trade industry has been developing rapidly. Affected by the international economic downturn, the growth rate of international trade has been relatively slow in recent years, and even a downward trend, but the volume of cross-border e-commerce transactions has shown explosive growth.
2.1.1 The decline in the volume of international trade in the country and Guangdong Province.
In recent years, the state has continuously introduced policies to promote the development of international trade, such as: the “General Office of the State Council on Several Opinions on Supporting the Development of Foreign Trade” issued by the General Office of the State Council in 2014 (Guo Ban Fa [2014] No. 19), the “General Office of the State Council on Several Opinions on Strengthening Imports” issued by the General Office of the State Council in 2014 (Guo Ban Fa [2014] No. 49), the 2016 State Council issued “Several Opinions on Promoting the Innovative Development of Processing Trade” (Guo Fa [2016] No. 4), and the 11 pilot free trade zones established from 2013 to 2016, which put forward a series of policies to improve the international trade environment and promote the development of trade facilitation.
In 2011, the annual total import and export of international trade was 23,640.2 billion yuan, of which 11,316.1 billion yuan was imported and 12,324.1 billion yuan was exported; in 2012, the annual total import and export of international trade was 24,416 billion yuan, an increase of 3.28%, of which 11,480.1 billion yuan was imported and 12,935.9 billion yuan was exported; in 2013, the total import and export of international trade was 25,826.7 billion yuan, an increase of 5.78% year-on-year, of which 12,109.7 billion yuan was imported and 13,717?| yuan was exported; in 2014, the annual total international trade import and export amounted to 26,433.4 billion yuan, an increase of 2.35% year-on-year, of which 12,042.3 billion yuan was imported and 14,391.2 billion yuan was exported. Although the total import and export of international trade in 2015 decreased compared with 2014, China’s import and export of goods trade and exports steadily ranked first in the world. 2011 to 2015 China’s total import and export of international trade is shown in Figure 1.
Since 2005, the total import and export trade of Guangdong Province has accounted for a high proportion of the country, reaching 30.10% in 2005 [1]. Although there has been a downward trend in recent years, and this proportion dropped to 25.02% in 2014, it still ranked top among all provinces and cities in China. the total import and export of Guangdong Province in 2015 was USD 1,023 billion, of which the total export was USD 643.6 billion and the total import was USD 379.4 billion, and the total import and export decreased by 5% compared with 2014.
2.1.2 Dongguan’s foreign trade grew at a faster rate.
In the general environment of global economic downturn and slow development of foreign trade situation, Dongguan’s international trade bucked the trend and maintained a fast growth rate. According to the data of Dongguan’s statistical bulletin, the city’s total international trade reached $153.072 billion in 2013, an increase of 5.99%; in 2014, the city’s total foreign trade import and export amounted to $162.530 billion, an increase of 6.18% year-on-year; in 2015, the city’s total import and export amounted to $1,040.776 billion, an increase of 4.2% year-on-year, and the growth rate ranked first in the country’s total foreign trade for two consecutive years. The total import and export of foreign investment in Dongguan City from 2010 to 2015 is shown in Figure 2.
2.1.3 Cross-border e-commerce is booming.
Under the background of “One Belt and One Road” strategy and “Internet+” strategy, national policies are frequently issued to boost the development of cross-border e-commerce. As China’s “One Belt, One Road” construction accelerates, cross-border e-commerce in the regions along the route also shows prosperous development. At the same time, as the traditional foreign trade industry upgrade accelerates, the cross-border e-commerce market scale expands rapidly, and the growth rate of China’s cross-border e-commerce in 2015 exceeded 30%. According to the Ministry of Commerce’s forecast, China’s cross-border e-commerce import and export trade will reach US$6.5 trillion in 2016, and the proportion of China’s cross-border e-commerce in China’s import and export trade will increase to 20% in the next few years, with an annual growth rate of more than 30%.
With the establishment of Guangdong Free Trade Zone, cross-border e-commerce in Guangdong Province has accelerated its development and steadily ranked as the first largest province of cross-border e-commerce in China. At the same time, Dongguan’s cross-border e-commerce industry has also been rapidly?l developed. According to statistics, in 2015, Dongguan sent out a total of 38.5 million international small packages, the value of about 5 billion yuan, an increase of 181% over 2013. in the first half of 2016, Dongguan City sent out a total of 32.26 million small packages, an average of 207,000 pieces per day, an increase of 164%. The city has more than 5,000 cross-border e-commerce enterprises of various types, covering logistics, payment, third-party platforms, operation services and other aspects, and more than 7,000 manufacturing enterprises are engaged in cross-border e-commerce transactions. The booming cross-border e-commerce industry urgently needs a large number of cross-border e-commerce-oriented talents.
2.2 Analysis of employment situation of international trade majors
2.2.1 High demand from enterprises.
Searching the job information of “foreign trade” positions in Dongguan in the past 2 months on the website of MileagePlus (51job), the results show that there are 3,454 jobs; search for “international trade” jobs posted in Dongguan in the past 2 months, the results show a total of 1,320 job information. Search for the last 2 months released in the Pearl River Delta 5 major cities (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan) recruitment of “international trade” positions, the results show a total of 22 267 job information; search for the last 2 months released in the Pearl River Delta 5 major cities (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan) recruitment of “foreign trade” positions, the results show a total of 22 267 job information; search for the last 2 months released in the Pearl River Delta 5 major cities (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan) recruitment “Foreign trade” positions, the results show a total of 56 622 recruitment information. From these search results, Dongguan City and even the PRD region there is a large lack of international trade talent phenomenon.
2.2.2 High employment rate and counterpart rate.
According to the “Higher Vocational Education (Specialist) Specialized Catalogue of General Higher Education Schools (2015)” published by the Ministry of Education, there are two specialties in international trade, namely international trade practice (major code: 630501) and international economics and trade (major code: 630502), and from the research on China Education Online, the international trade category (including international trade practice and international economics and trade) is opened in Guangdong Province The total number of higher vocational colleges and universities offering international trade (including international trade practice and international economics and trade) is 37, accounting for 44.57% of the 83 higher vocational colleges and universities in the province. From the employment statistics of some higher vocational colleges and universities, the employment rate of international trade majors is generally high, and the willingness of students to work in this field after graduation is also very high, and the employment matching rate is high.
2.3 Enterprise demand for international trade talents research results
2.3.1 Job distribution.
From the results of enterprise research, international trade students are engaged in work after graduation mainly foreign trade salesman, foreign trade documentary, foreign trade documentary, international freight forwarder, of which the number of foreign trade salesman accounted for the most. Foreign trade salesman requires students to be familiar with the foreign trade process of quotation, order, payment methods, preparation, packaging, customs inspection, loading, bill of lading, delivery, settlement and other aspects of the specific operation process. Foreign trade documentary requires mastery of foreign trade documentary theory and practice, import and export source governance and other basic knowledge. Foreign trade documentary requires English letters of credit, commercial invoices, packing slips, bills of lading and other international business documents repair and examination, familiar with the customs declaration and inspection process, with the receipt of evidence, examination of evidence, bill of lading, examination, delivery, filing and a series of business processing capabilities. International freight forwarders are required to be familiar with the customs declaration and inspection process and be able to skillfully operate international cargo transportation.
2.3.2 Quality requirements.
From the results of enterprise research, students’ learning ability, language expression and communication ability, and professionalism are several qualities that enterprises consider most necessary to have. Strong learning ability, also represents the students’ ability to adapt to the environment, in the face of rapid changes in the international trade market, students’ strong learning ability, it is possible to master a new skill in a relatively short period of time. The international trade profession is mainly dealing with people, so for language and communication skills is also a very important ability of enterprises. Companies want to recruit employees who have a sense of ownership, can devote themselves to their work, abide by professional ethics, and protect the interests and image of the company.
2.3.3 Professional knowledge.
In addition to requiring students to have the above basic qualities, professional knowledge of enterprises mainly hope that students master at least one foreign language, English requires listening, reading and writing, many international trade enterprises require students to pass the CET-6, and pass the CET-4 has become the consensus of the companies studied. In addition to the ability to communicate normally in English, it is hoped that employees will master a second foreign language to facilitate the development of other countries’ markets. Due to the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce, most international trade companies want to recruit employees who are familiar with cross-border e-commerce operations, at least familiar with the operation of one of several major e-commerce platforms, such as Selling, eBay, Amazon, Dunhuang. In addition, professional basic knowledge is also valued by enterprises as a basic requirement, including the basic knowledge of international trade, customs clearance, international business documents, international shipping processes.
3 Suggestions for the development of the international trade profession
3.1 Pay attention to the cultivation of students’ learning ability.
From the results of the enterprise research, the most important quality of students in the enterprise learning ability in the first place, which can be seen the importance of learning ability. Therefore, we should strengthen the cultivation of students’ learning ability in the school learning stage, and strengthen the supervision of students’ independent learning in the usual course teaching [3], encourage students to operate first by themselves in practical training practice courses, and guide students to find solutions after they find problems in independent learning, instead of directly telling students how to solve them. Students are encouraged to participate in second classroom activities and innovative entrepreneurial activities to strengthen the cultivation of learning ability.
3.2 Emphasize the cultivation of foreign language ability.
International trade enterprises are basically engaged in international exchange activities, so it is natural for foreign language as the most basic communication tool to become the most basic ability. Due to the quality of students in higher education, English has generally become the short board of higher education students, and strengthening students’ English ability is a big task in the three years of university. This requires that the importance of students’ English ability should be emphasized at the entrance of freshmen, so that students can establish the awareness of foreign language learning. Secondly, the usual practical training practice teaching, more students to see the real operating environment of enterprises, so that students can generate the internal motivation to learn English. Thirdly, more English-related theory and practical training courses should be arranged in the curriculum. Finally, teachers are required to pay attention to bilingual teaching in the teaching process, and to integrate the professional English of this course throughout the course of study. Students are encouraged to learn a second foreign language while learning English well to improve their employment competitiveness.
3.3 Emphasize the exercise of practical ability of cross-border e-commerce.
At present, Dongguan and even China’s cross-border e-commerce is in a period of rapid development, and a large number of traditional foreign trade enterprises are transformed to engage in cross-border e-commerce, so the demand for cross-border e-commerce talents is also increasing. In addition to international trade courses, international trade majors in higher education institutions also need to offer cross-border e-commerce courses, arrange cross-border e-commerce practical training, and improve cross-border e-commerce skills through usual theoretical learning and practical training. Actively organize students to participate in cross-border e-commerce innovation and entrepreneurship competitions, and promote students’ cross-border e-commerce practical skills through the competitions.
3.4 Pay attention to the cultivation of students’ basic vocational literacy.
The usual teaching pays attention to the cultivation of students’ professionalism, which is required to be reflected in every usual course, every project and task. For example, students are required not to be late for work, and this requirement is strictly enforced in every course so that students can develop the habit of not being late for work. Project tasks are required to be completed by students in a timely manner. When assigning tasks, the task completion time is stated, and the task is closed and collection of student work is stopped when it is due, so that students can develop a good sense of working time.