General

International trade exports are one of the "three carriages" that drive economic growth and play an important role in supporting economic growth. The government work report pointed out that import and export should continue to play a supportive role in the economy.

Experts said that the overall foreign trade is under great pressure this year. It is necessary to stabilize the scale and optimize the structure, while maintaining the basic scale of foreign trade, and enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of foreign trade. The effects of various foreign trade stabilization policies continue to show, which will provide strong support for the stability and quality of import and export and the stability of the industrial chain supply chain.

Foreign trade continues to play its role in stabilizing the economy

In 2022, China's foreign trade will withstand many pressures and achieve stable growth. In 2023, the global economic and trade situation is grim and complex. The latest data shows that China's exports in the first two months of this year reached 3.5 trillion yuan, up 0.9% year on year.

"Since this year, China's foreign trade has faced difficulties, overcome the impact of weakening foreign demand and high base last year, and achieved a stable start on the whole. International trade exports have achieved positive growth, and continue to play a supporting role in the national economy," said Lu Daliang, director of the Statistics and Analysis Department of the General Administration of Customs.

The new situation puts forward new requirements. The government work report puts forward that import and export promote stability and quality, and the balance of payments is basically balanced, and emphasizes that import and export continue to play a supporting role in the economy.

Wang Wentao, Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, said that the possibility of making the "cake" of global foreign trade bigger this year is relatively small. We should think about how to continue to exert our advantages in this situation. In order to stabilize the scale and optimize the structure of foreign trade this year, we should first maintain the basic scale. Optimize the structure of foreign trade and enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of foreign trade.

Wen Bin, chief economist of China Minsheng Bank, said that export growth would still slow down with global demand, but with the accelerated recovery of China's product supply side, overseas demand remained resilient. The export base in March and April was further downward, and export growth was expected to improve to some extent.

"At present, the foundation of China's economic recovery is not solid, and the external environment is volatile, which poses challenges to China's foreign trade development." Wu Fulin, member of the National Committee of the CPPCC and secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of China, said that China's economy has strong resilience, great potential and vitality, and the fundamentals of long-term improvement have not changed. The effects of various foreign trade stabilization policies continue to emerge, ensuring stability and improving the quality of imports and exports Industrial chain supply chain stability provides strong support.

Stabilize the scale and maintain the basic market

Experts said that to stabilize the scale of foreign trade, we should stabilize the market, stabilize traditional markets such as the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea, and expand emerging markets. Latin America and countries along the "the Belt and Road" have great market potential.

The latest data shows that China's exports to ASEAN and countries along the "the Belt and Road" have performed well. In the first two months of this year, ASEAN was China's largest trading partner. The total value of trade between China and ASEAN was 951.93 billion yuan, up 9.6%, accounting for 15.4% of China's total foreign trade. Among them, exports to ASEAN reached 570 billion yuan, up 17.9%. Over the same period, China's imports and exports to countries along the "the Belt and Road" totaled 2.12 trillion yuan, of which exports totaled 1.25 trillion yuan, an increase of 15.2%.

"Make progress while maintaining stability, and focus on key areas and regions to promote the quality and efficiency of foreign trade and foreign investment." Wu Fulin said that the Export Import Bank will closely focus on the national development strategy, and focus on high-quality trade development, modern industrial system construction, the "the Belt and Road" construction and other fields to play a leading and leading role.

To stabilize the scale of foreign trade, we should also stabilize the trade channels. Wu Fulin said that it is necessary to strengthen trade promotion and maximize the spillover driving effect through trade promotion platforms such as the International Trade Fair and the Service Trade Fair, so that service enterprises can make better use of both domestic and international markets and resources, stabilize orders, expand markets, and continue to improve the competitiveness of the international trade market.

"We should use traditional channels such as the Canton Fair to carry out trade promotion activities, and encourage enterprises to participate overseas, and encourage local, trade promotion agencies and business associations to carry out various forms of trade promotion activities," Wang Wentao said.

Optimizing structure and enhancing competitiveness

"Actively promote the development and expansion of new business forms and models, continue to cultivate new drivers of foreign trade, and strive to stabilize the share of China's foreign trade in global trade," said Gu Xueming, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and president of the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce.

As a new form of foreign trade with rapid development and strong driving force, cross-border e-commerce provides strong impetus for the growth of foreign trade. Li Kuiwen, deputy to the National People's Congress and director of the Guangdong Branch of the General Administration of Customs, said that in terms of cross-border e-commerce, it is necessary to effectively implement the comprehensive pilot zone plan of cross-border e-commerce, form a joint force of "cross-department cooperation and cross-customs zone cooperation", and optimize the cross-border e-commerce business environment. In terms of market procurement, we should strengthen market access and classified management, strengthen joint punishment of illegal acts, and promote the healthy development of market procurement trade.

In addition, the rapid development of digital trade in recent years is becoming a new engine to drive economic growth. Cultivating new forms and models of digital trade has become an important aspect of optimizing the structure of foreign trade. Wang Wentao said that we should support local governments to explore and hold trade digital exhibitions, accelerate the construction of the global trade digital pilot zone in the Great Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, constantly improve the level of trade digital, and increase trade momentum with digital empowerment.

In terms of new kinetic energy, in 2022, the export of electricity, light and lithium represented by electric vehicles, photovoltaic products and lithium batteries will increase significantly, and China's high-tech, high-value-added products leading the green transformation will become a new growth point for export. In 2023, this trend will not change. Taking automobile export as an example, data from the General Administration of Customs showed that automobile export in the first two months was 96.83 billion yuan, up 78.9%.

Zhang Xinghai, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and chairman of Celes Group, suggested that relevant departments should give policy and technical guidance to automobile enterprises to help them develop the international trade market. For example, it helps auto enterprises to obtain convenience in technical exchange, overseas exhibition and other aspects, help solve the problem of "certification difficulty", and help auto enterprises get familiar with the specifications of overseas auto market. In addition, we should coordinate and solve the outstanding problems such as high export transport costs and insufficient transport capacity.