General

What has been the situation of China's foreign investment and cooperation since the beginning of this year? What is the trend of consumption in the second quarter? What are the challenges and opportunities faced by exports? The Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference on the 15th to respond to recent economic and trade hotspots.

Import and export data shows that China's outward non-financial direct investment increased by 24.2% year-on-year in the first five months

Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shu Jueting introduced at the press conference that from January to May this year, China's outward investment continued to grow, with non-financial direct investment of 356.46 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.2% (equivalent to 51.78 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 16.1%).

According to import and export data, from January to May this year, non-financial direct investment of Chinese enterprises in countries along the "the Belt and Road" was 63.06 billion yuan, up 19.6% year on year (equivalent to 9.16 billion dollars, up 11.8% year on year), accounting for 17.7% of the total amount in the same period.

According to import and export data, from January to May this year, China completed a turnover of 371.95 billion yuan in foreign contracted projects, an increase of 8% year-on-year; The newly signed contract amount is RMB 493.87 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 2.6%. The turnover of contracted projects undertaken by Chinese enterprises in countries along the "the Belt and Road" is 204.46 billion yuan, and the newly signed contract amount is 243.29 billion yuan, accounting for 55% and 49.3% of the total amount in the same period respectively.

The consumer market is expected to continue to maintain a stable growth trend in the second quarter

Since the beginning of this year, the domestic consumer market has accelerated its recovery. Import and export data shows that in the first quarter, the contribution rate of final consumer spending to economic growth reached 66.6%, becoming the first driving force of economic growth again. In May, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 12.7% year-on-year, with a year-on-year increase of 9.3% from January to May this year, an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared to January to April.

The consumer market is expected to continue to maintain a stable growth trend in the second quarter, "said Shu Jueting. In order to further stimulate market vitality, restore and expand consumption, the Ministry of Commerce will focus on the following work:

One is to continue to improve consumption policies. Promote the introduction of a series of policy measures to support the recovery and expansion of consumption. At the same time, targeted supporting measures have been introduced to promote high-quality development in the automotive, home furnishings, brand consumption, and catering industries.

Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and four other departments jointly issued a notice on promoting the consumption of green and intelligent home appliances in 2023. Next, they will continue to organize and carry out home appliance consumption promotion activities, deeply promote the exchange of old appliances for new ones and the introduction of green and intelligent home appliances to rural areas, and continuously optimize and improve the home appliance consumption environment.

The second is to continue to organize consumer activities well. During the upcoming summer consumption season, consumption scenarios such as "618 Dragon Boat Festival Happy Shopping", "Night Life Festival" and "Digital Consumption Festival" will be launched. A series of consumer activities will also be held in various regions.

The third is to continuously innovate consumption scenarios. We will continue to deepen the construction of an international consumption center city, promote the high-quality development of pedestrian streets, promote the construction of smart business districts, and create more new consumption scenarios. At the same time, we will promote the construction of a quarter hour convenient living circle and accelerate the filling of shortcomings in convenient facilities.

Exports face both challenges and opportunities

Overall, China's exports are facing both challenges and opportunities this year, "said Shu Jueting.

From the perspective of challenges, exports face significant external demand pressure. The World Trade Organization expects global trade in goods to grow by 1.7% this year, significantly lower than the average level of 2.6% in the past 12 years. Inflation levels in major developed economies are still relatively high, and continuous interest rate hikes have suppressed investment and consumer demand, resulting in consecutive months of year-on-year decline in imports. According to the import and export data, affected by this, exports of South Korea, India, Vietnam and Taiwan, China have all declined significantly in recent months, and exports to the United States and Europe are sluggish.

From the perspective of opportunities, China's export market is more diverse, with more diverse products and more diverse formats. Especially, the vast number of foreign trade entities are exploring and innovating, actively responding to changes in international demand, and striving to cultivate new competitive advantages, demonstrating strong resilience.

Shu Jueting introduced that the Ministry of Commerce will fully implement the policy measures to promote the stability, scale, and structure of foreign trade, focusing on the following four aspects of work:

Strengthen trade promotion: increase support for foreign trade enterprises to participate in various overseas exhibitions, and continue to promote smooth communication between enterprises and business personnel; Successfully hold key exhibitions such as the 134th Canton Fair and the 6th Import Expo.

Optimize the business environment: increase financial support for foreign trade enterprises such as financing and credit insurance; Further improve the level of customs clearance facilitation and break through bottlenecks.

Promote innovative development: Actively develop the "cross-border e-commerce+industrial belt" model to drive cross-border e-commerce B2B exports.

Make good use of free trade agreements: promote the high-level implementation of free trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), improve the level of public services, organize trade promotion activities for free trade partners, and improve the comprehensive utilization rate of free trade agreements. In addition, we will continue to help enterprises reduce costs and increase efficiency, promoting stable development. (Transferred from: Xinhua Network)