General

On August 23, at a press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council to actively contribute to business forces and strive to promote a well-off society, some media asked what the Ministry of Commerce views on the prospects of my country's foreign trade development? What other policy measures will be introduced?

In this regard, the Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said that foreign trade is one of the "troikas" driving the economy. To answer this question with a few data:

The first is to promote stable economic development. From the perspective of 2020, my country's foreign trade scale has reached 4.6 trillion U.S. dollars, and my country's international market share accounts for 14.7%, a record high. At the same time, the contribution rate to economic growth reached 28%. The second is to enrich the domestic market supply. The CIIE, which General Secretary Xi Jinping personally deployed and promoted, has expanded imports in addition to exports, and many commodities are liked by the people. Moreover, imported goods enter ordinary supermarkets and enter thousands of households, providing consumers with more choices. The third is to expand employment and taxation. About 180 million people are employed by foreign trade.

Wang Wentao said that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it has contributed 11% of total fiscal revenue, while foreign exchange reserves have been maintained at around US$3 trillion. Foreign trade has effectively guaranteed the balance of payments of a country as large as our country. It used to be the largest country in trade in goods, and last year the total trade in goods and services ranked first in the world.

Regarding the prospects of my country's foreign trade development, Wang Wentao said that from January to July this year, foreign trade continued to maintain a momentum of rapid growth, with a growth rate of 24.5%, a new high in the past decade. There are many factors here, and many one-off factors. Therefore, the Ministry of Commerce in the first half of next year feels that the situation is very serious. It is impossible for a one-time factor to last that long. For example, because of the intensification of the epidemic situation in the surrounding areas, some orders will return, and the orders will be transferred to our country. As the epidemic gradually slows down, the returned orders may be transferred out again. There are also some anti-epidemic materials. At the beginning, our country’s masks, protective clothing, and ventilators have experienced a sharp increase in exports due to the epidemic’s impact on our country’s exports.

Therefore, the growth in the second half of the year is gradually slowing down, and the situation next year may be very severe. At the same time, my country began to recover in the second half of last year, with a relatively high base. Therefore, this recovery cannot be sustained at such a high level forever. The Ministry of Commerce hopes that this recovery will be gradually slow, and the final growth will be within a reasonable range.

In terms of macroeconomic policies, we will strengthen cross-cyclical control so that economic fluctuations can be within a reasonable range and prevent major ups and downs from harming economic growth and market players. Therefore, in the second half of the year, the Ministry of Commerce will focus on inter-cyclical regulation to keep foreign trade within a reasonable range.

Specifically, it is in four aspects: stabilizing growth, promoting innovation, maintaining smooth flow, and expanding cooperation.

Stable growth is mainly about stabilizing the main body and stabilizing orders. There are still some difficulties that are commonly encountered internationally, such as the impact of transportation capacity and rising freight rates, the rise of commodities and raw materials, the pressure of RMB exchange rate appreciation, and the increase in labor costs. These are the problems encountered by foreign trade companies. “Four Dilemmas”, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, are even more difficult. Therefore, a series of measures must be taken to stabilize market players and stabilize orders.

To promote innovation, in addition to traditional foreign trade, we are now vigorously promoting the development of new formats and models of foreign trade, such as cross-border e-commerce, supporting the export of high-tech, high-quality, and high-value-added products, and increasing the overseas promotion of Chinese brands. Keep unblocked to ensure the unblocked flow of my country's foreign trade industry chain and supply chain.

Expanding cooperation means deepening international economic and trade cooperation. Maintaining the multilateral trading system, negotiating and signing free trade agreements, upgrading free trade agreements, and deeper integration into the entire international economic cooperation, not only makes China's contribution to the development of the world, but also promotes the development of my country's own foreign trade.