General

According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Commerce today held a special press conference on the "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for High-Quality Development of Foreign Trade". Ren Hongbin, Vice Minister of Commerce, Li Xinggan, Director of the Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Deputy Director of the Department of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, Press spokesperson Shu Jueting attended and answered reporters' questions.

u3000u3000 The following is the text record:

u3000u3000Reporter: This year is the beginning of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. From January to October, foreign trade has grown rapidly, with the growth rate of imports and exports reaching 22.2%. What's the comment of the Ministry of Commerce? How to view the current situation of foreign trade development and what does the Ministry of Commerce consider in the next step of "stabilizing foreign trade"?

u3000u3000 Ren Hongbin, Vice Minister of Commerce: Let me answer the first question first, how to evaluate this year’s foreign trade work.

Since the beginning of this year, in the face of the complex and severe domestic and international situation, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, the Ministry of Commerce, in conjunction with localities and departments, has adhered to the general keynote of the work of seeking progress while maintaining stability in accordance with the requirements of the “six stability” and “six guarantees”. Grasp the implementation of policies, continue to deepen the reform of “delegating management, decentralization, and service”, and accurately assist enterprises in alleviating difficulties. The rapid growth of foreign trade has not come easily. Mainly present four characteristics:

u3000u3000 First, the scale has reached a new high. From January to October, the total import and export volume was US$4.89 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 31.9%. In the first half of this year, China’s export and import international market shares reached 14.6% and 12% respectively, both hitting new highs over the same period. my country’s trading partners are in more than 230 countries and regions around the world, and my country’s daily import and export trade volume exceeds 15 billion U.S. dollars, or 100 billion RMB. The economic and trade ties between my country and the world have become closer. Second, the structure is more optimized. The international market is more diversified. Developing countries and emerging economies have become China's main trading partners, accounting for 49.5% of China's total exports. The main force of private enterprises has become more prominent, accounting for 57.6% of China's total exports. The third is continuous improvement in quality. New forms and models of foreign trade, such as cross-border e-commerce import and export, and export through market procurement, maintained double-digit growth. A total of 2.81 million exhibits were displayed at the 130th Canton Fair, of which nearly 900,000 were new products and 250,000 were products with independent intellectual property rights. Fourth, the resilience of the supply chain has increased. Overcoming the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, China has given full play to its advantages in manufacturing and supporting complete supply chains to effectively make up for the global supply gap. We are fully confident that we will achieve the goal of "stable quantity and quality improvement" throughout the year.

u3000u3000 At the same time, what I want to tell you is that since this year, my country's foreign trade has made an increasingly prominent contribution to the national economy and the world economy, which is mainly reflected in four aspects. The first is to effectively drive economic growth. The contribution rate of net exports of goods and services to GDP growth in the first three quarters reached 19.5%, driving GDP growth by 1.9%, which is very impressive. The second is the prominent role of job stabilization. In the first 10 months, the number of newly registered foreign trade operators reached 154,000, most of which were small, medium and micro foreign trade enterprises, effectively driving employment growth. New business models and models such as cross-border e-commerce have broadened flexible employment channels in society. The third is to improve people's livelihood. Actively expand imports, ensure the supply of important agricultural products and energy resources, increase imports of consumer goods, and meet the diverse needs of the people. This year, more than 2,000 companies in poverty alleviation areas successfully opened up the international market through the Canton Fair. Border trade has increased the income of 4 million border residents and contributed to the prosperity of the border and the stability of the border. The fourth is to promote the recovery of global economy and trade. China has carried out in-depth international cooperation in the fight against the epidemic. So far, it has exported more than 360 billion masks to the world, helping countries respond to the epidemic, resume production, and promote the smooth and stable supply chain of the global industrial chain. In the first half of this year, the contribution rate of China's super-large market to global import growth reached 14.8%.

u3000u3000 Now to answer your second question, how do you view the current and future foreign trade situation, and how to do the next step in stabilizing foreign trade.

u3000u3000 At present, the epidemic of the century is intertwined with a century of change, domestic and international challenges coexist, and short-term and medium- and long-term risks are superimposed. The four major macro risks cannot be ignored. First, the epidemic is still spreading around the world, the foundation of world economic recovery is not strong, and the development of developed and developing economies is uneven. The second is the rise of unilateralism and protectionism, and economic globalization has encountered a countercurrent. The third is the rise in global inflation, which is transmitted from upstream to downstream along the industrial chain. Fourth, the restructuring of the international industrial chain and supply chain is accelerating, and the trend of regionalization, near-shoreization, localization, and short-chainization is obvious. Specific to micro-enterprise entities, there are six major difficulties, which we sum up as "three more and three less."

u3000u3000 Three more: First, there are many trade risks. Many companies' orders are delayed or cancelled, and the risk of foreign exchange collection is increased. Everyone knows this is mainly due to the low efficiency caused by the epidemic. Second, costs have risen a lot, ocean freight rates are still at a high level, and raw material prices have risen. The Reuters Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) index, which reflects global commodity prices, reached 235, more than double the low of last year. Third, there are many supply chain congestion points, many countries have not yet fully resumed work and production, and ports continue to be congested. The on-time rate of global trunk routes has dropped from 73.6% in May last year to 17% in October this year. In the past, the ship loading and unloading on shore was generally completed within 2-3 days, but now the loading and unloading cannot be completed in 2-3 weeks, which is inefficient.

u3000u3000 Three less: First, there are few orders. PMI's new export order index has been below the line of prosperity and decline for 6 consecutive months. The second is that there are few chips, and the agency predicts that the tight supply situation may continue until 2023. Third, the manufacturing labor force is relatively small, and foreign trade companies in some regions face seasonal labor shortages.

u3000u3000Behind the rapid growth of China's foreign trade, we must clearly see that many foreign trade companies, especially small, medium and micro foreign trade companies, have increased their operating pressure and difficulties. The phenomenon of "not daring to accept orders" and "increasing revenue without increasing profits" is more common. There are still many hidden worries in the development of foreign trade, and we cannot be blindly optimistic.

u3000u3000 In the next step, we will follow the decision and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, closely follow the situation, conduct in-depth investigations and studies, and work with relevant departments to do a good job of cross-cycle adjustments in response to the actual difficulties and needs faced by foreign trade enterprises.