Ye Mingchun, the manager of Zhejiang Tianyiqi Shoes, based in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, for instance, said: "The fall in export volumes meant my company only made about 60 percent of the revenues it did in 2011."
Rising labor costs were also a major difficulty for most companies, with 70 percent saying salaries now accounted for more than 20 percent of costs.
Zhang Wenhua, the owner of a mechanical company in Nanjing that exports products to Europe, said the gradual increase in material and labor costs had minimized profits made by SME manufacturers.
Wei said the report showed some firms will have to increase spending on technology, replacing staff with equipment to reduce costs in the long term.
"Many SMEs realize it is essential to upgrade and transform their products with the use of more advanced, automated technology to minimize labor costs," Wei added.
However, as a whole, most enterprises surveyed said they were feeling optimistic about their export prospects in 2013.
More than 61 percent of companies interviewed said they expected volumes to rise gradually as the global economy recovers.
"The gloomy economy in the US and European countries is rebounding slowly, which will definitely increase export activities by Chinese trading companies," said Wei.
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