According to the Blue Book of Commercial Sector, the financial crisis that swept through the globe since the latter half of 2008 has brought synchronized recession in major economies and tremendous changes in international trade dynamics. To weather this major financial crisis, governments around the world have launched a series of bailouts to reduce the systemic risks and stabilize the economy. Due to the aggressive expansionary monetary policies, there were signs of stabilization in the global financial markets in 2009, but the growth remained insignificant.

The Blue Book also pointed out that, amid the gradual recovery of the global economy, the outbreak of Dubai Debt Crisis and bankruptcy of the "PIGS" countries implied that the negative effects of the financial crisis should not be underestimated. The high employment rate around the world hindered the recovery of global economy. Policy-wise, protectionism has been rising across the globe. Most of the Western countries found themselves under intense political pressure to save jobs by protecting domestic industries from import competition.

As China’s exports shrink, China’s domestic market is gaining increasing attention from the country’s many export-oriented manufacturers. With growing domestic consumption power and burgeoning middle-class, more and more export-oriented manufacturing enterprises now employ a twin-pronged strategy instead of relying solely on export markets, or so-called walking on two legs, by engaging in both domestic and foreign trade sectors, in order to gain new markets and diversify risks.

However, as outlined in the Blue Book, “selling to the source” is no easy task. Some major difficulties faced by export-oriented enterprises in launching domestic sales include different business models for foreign and domestic trade, the underregulated domestic market, the large tax repayment burden and different product certification standards between domestic and foreign market.

It is suggested in the Blue Book that the government should accelerate the integration of domestic and foreign trade sectors as well as promoting the development of China’s distribution sector. In 2009, the government introduced a handful of supportive policies to help companies weather the economic downturn. As the economy stabilizes and there are signs of bottoming out of export demand, whether the government will readjust its policy direction on processing trade remains uncertain. It is advisable for the government to clarify its policy stance on processing trade as soon as possible so that enterprises can plan ahead for long-term investment in a better way.