Faced with an increasingly fierce global trade competition, Changzhou has been actively guiding foreign trade enterprises to promote growth through transformation and expanding overseas markets through quality upgrading and brand building. In 2017, the total volume of foreign trade exceeded 30 billion U.S. dollars.

Since 2014, Zenith Steel Group Company Limited has been developing new products for the restructuring and transition of the enterprise. In the past three years, it has established cooperation with manufacturers such as Michelin and Goodyear. Zenith Steel has become the world's largest high-quality steel rod production base. In 2017, the import and export of Zenith Steel showed a rapid growth, ranking first in Changzhou, of which the export growth exceeded 27%.

Relying on a good manufacturing base, mechanical and electrical products still occupy the dominant position in import and export businesses. Changzhou Green Works Co., Ltd., using cross-border e-commerce as a new model, established overseas warehouse data accesses, carried out customized sales and built a good reputation in the European and American markets. As of November 2017, Green Works achieved import and export of 365 million US dollars, an increase of 51.5%.