General

The possibility of expanding the global foreign trade 'cake' this year is relatively small, and we need to think about how to continue to leverage our advantages in this situation. Overall, this year we need to stabilize the scale and optimize the structure. "At the theme press conference of the" Authoritative Department Talk Opening "series held by the State Administration for Foreign Trade on March 2, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao outlined the current situation and development path of foreign trade development this year, and Huacheng's import and export data observation report.

Currently, the risk of global economic recession is increasing, and the trend of stagflation is evident. The World Trade Organization predicts that global trade in goods will only grow by 1% this year, slowing by about 2.5 percentage points compared to last year. The challenges brought by the external environment to China's foreign trade are self-evident.

This year, the pressure on foreign trade has significantly increased, mainly due to the weakening of external demand. "Wang Wentao admitted that many enterprises have reported a decrease in their orders, delayed orders, and smaller large orders and shorter long orders. The reason for this situation is not only the weakening of external demand and the increasing risk of global economic recession, but also the influence of protectionism and geopolitics.

How to do the work of stabilizing foreign trade under various difficulties? Overall, this year we need to stabilize the scale and optimize the structure, "said Wang Wentao.

Wang Wentao further stated that the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to build a strong trading country. There are three pillars for a strong trading country, namely upgrading trade in goods, innovating trade in services, and developing digital trade. We will also make efforts from these three pillars to maintain the basic scale while further optimizing the foreign trade structure and enhancing the comprehensive competitiveness of foreign trade

Stabilize scale and exert efforts at three levels

How to stabilize the scale? Wang Wentao introduced three key tasks:

Firstly, stable policies are used to stabilize expectations. Last year, the foreign trade situation was severe. In response to the impact of the epidemic and uncertain external demand, we have introduced two consecutive rounds of stable foreign trade policies, which played an important role in achieving 42.1 trillion yuan in foreign trade last year.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, China's foreign trade reached a new high in 2022, with the import and export scale of goods breaking through the 40 trillion yuan mark for the first time, reaching 42.1 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.7%, and steadily ranking first in the world for the sixth consecutive year. The contribution rate of net exports of goods and services to GDP growth reached 17.1%, driving GDP growth by 0.5 percentage points, making an important contribution to the stable operation of the macroeconomic system.

At present, we are still studying some policies. We constantly listen to the opinions of relevant provinces and enterprises, understand the difficulties they face, and will formulate policies that comply with international rules based on these difficulties to promote the development of foreign trade, "said Wang Wentao.

Secondly, stabilize the market. Wang Wentao said that traditional markets such as the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea should be stabilized, and emerging markets should be developed. At the same time, markets in Latin America and countries along the the Belt and Road also have great potential. Last year, the growth rate of trade between China and ASEAN exceeded that of traditional markets, which have become China's largest trading partner.

Once again, stabilize trade channels. We need to use traditional channels such as the Canton Fair to carry out trade promotion activities, while encouraging enterprises to participate overseas, and encouraging local, trade promotion institutions, and business associations to carry out various forms of trade promotion activities. Wang Wentao said that after the transition of epidemic prevention and control, some enterprises have organized groups to go abroad to catch orders, demonstrating their positive actions. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

Optimizing structure and enhancing comprehensive competitiveness

In terms of optimizing the structure, the Ministry of Commerce also does a good job in three aspects.

One is to optimize trade methods. While strengthening general trade, support the gradient transfer of processing trade and upgrade development. The development of new formats and models such as cross-border e-commerce, overseas warehouses, and bonded maintenance is relatively rapid. We need to coordinate and promote their rapid and healthy development. In terms of service trade, we will promote the upgrading and construction of national service trade innovation and development demonstration zones on the basis of pilot projects in the early stage.

The second is to optimize the layout of the foreign trade supply chain. Implement the strategy of regional coordinated development, improve the quality of trade in the eastern region, and increase the proportion of trade in the central, western, and northeastern regions.

Wang Wentao introduced that currently, the trend of industry transfer to the central and western regions and Northeast China is becoming stronger, and the advantages of location, resource endowment, and factor cost in these regions are gradually emerging, including labor and land resources. In terms of transportation, the opening of China Europe trains and new land sea routes has also provided greater impetus for industrial transfer. In the layout of the supply chain, the central and western regions and the northeast regions have great potential

The third is to optimize the product structure and cultivate new driving forces for trade. Wang Wentao stated that China's industry is moving towards the mid to high end. While consolidating traditional advantages, it is also necessary to continuously cultivate new trade growth points in the process of upgrading. Taking the commonly mentioned 'new three types' as an example, the export of automobiles, especially new energy vehicles, is a major highlight, and the export growth rate of lithium batteries, photovoltaic products, and other products is also very fast. These are all new driving forces for foreign trade

In addition, according to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, digital empowerment can also increase trade momentum, including supporting local exploration and holding of trade digital exhibitions, accelerating the construction of global trade digital navigation zones in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, and continuously improving the level of trade digitization.

The situation this year is quite severe, but we have more confidence, "Wang Wentao said. The Ministry of Commerce will implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, make efforts in stabilizing scale and optimizing structure, listen to the demands of market entities, formulate targeted policy measures, and help enterprises develop better in the international market. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.