General

"China's economy is a sea, not a small pond." The same is true of China's foreign trade. Although local epidemics have occurred in some parts of the country since the beginning of this year, and foreign trade has been affected to a certain extent in a short period of time, according to the data just released, the growth of foreign trade has rebounded significantly in the first half of this year, showing strong resilience and competitiveness. According to customs statistics, the total value of my country's import and export of goods in the first half of this year was 19.8 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.4%. Among them, exports were 11.14 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.2%; imports were 8.66 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.8%.

"Since May, with the overall improvement of the domestic epidemic prevention and control situation, the effects of various policies to stabilize growth have gradually emerged, and foreign trade enterprises have resumed work and production in an orderly manner, especially the rapid recovery of imports and exports in the Yangtze River Delta and other regions." News from the General Administration of Customs Spokesman and Director of the Statistics and Analysis Department Li Kuiwen said at the press conference of the State Council Information Office on July 13 that with the implementation of the national economic stabilization policy package and the orderly progress of resumption of work and production, my country's foreign trade is expected to continue to maintain stable growth. .

Optimizing foreign trade structure and improving competitiveness

According to Li Kuiwen, in addition to the obvious rebound in the growth rate of foreign trade in the last two months of the first half of the year, my country's foreign trade import and export in the first half of the year also has the following characteristics.

In terms of general trade imports and exports, its proportion continued to increase. In the first half of the year, my country's general trade import and export was 12.71 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.1%, accounting for 64.2% of my country's total foreign trade import and export, an increase of 2.1 percentage points year-on-year. In the same period, the import and export of processing trade was 4.02 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.2%.

In this regard, Zhang Jianping, director of the Regional Economic Research Center of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce and member of the Expert Committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said in an interview with a reporter from China Trade News that the increase in the proportion of general trade indicates that China has been encouraging its own brands and independent knowledge for many years. Property rights and products and technologies with independent innovation capabilities are constantly gaining new international competitiveness, making new contributions to China's transformation from a trading power to a trading power.

"In addition, the increase in the proportion of general trade imports and exports also reflects the continuous optimization of China's foreign trade structure. Correspondingly, the proportion of processing trade has declined relatively, which itself is also developing in the direction of transformation and upgrading. The overall competitiveness of foreign trade is There has been improvement." Zhang Jianping said.

Behind the continuous increase in the proportion of general trade is the inevitable result of our independent innovation and development. "After entering the '14th Five-Year Plan', the state has continued to increase investment in research and development, encourage independent innovation of enterprises, and continuously optimize the business environment and improve the level of facilitation of international trade. Chinese enterprises have cultivated a large number of independent brands and increased the added value of products. , many multinational companies have been born." Zhang Jianping said.

Data show that in the first half of the year, my country's imports and exports to major trading partners maintained growth. my country's imports and exports to ASEAN, the European Union and the United States were 2.95 trillion yuan, 2.71 trillion yuan and 2.47 trillion yuan respectively, an increase of 10.6%, 7.5% and 11.7% respectively. During the same period, my country’s imports and exports to countries along the “Belt and Road” and RCEP trading partners increased by 17.8% and 5.6% respectively.

It is worth noting that the import and export of major products also achieved steady growth. According to customs data, in the first half of the year, my country's import and export of mechanical and electrical products was 9.72 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.2%, accounting for 49.1% of my country's total foreign trade import and export value. The import and export of agricultural products was 1.04 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.3%, accounting for 5.2%. During the same period, the export of labor-intensive products was 1.99 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.5%, accounting for 17.8% of the total export value. Crude oil, natural gas, coal and other energy products imported a total of 1.48 trillion yuan, an increase of 53.1%, accounting for 17.1% of the total import value.

Zhang Jianping said that although the proportion of labor-intensive products in China's exports has been declining in recent years, there has been a rapid growth in the first half of this year, mainly due to the demand of the international market. "At the same time, some international competitors have shown inconsistent resumption of work and production, which also highlights China's strong production and supply capabilities for such products."

It is expected to maintain stable growth in the second half of the year

Li Kuiwen pointed out that in general, my country's foreign trade imports and exports in the first half of the year showed strong resilience, laying a solid foundation for the stability and improvement of foreign trade throughout the year. At present, the new crown pneumonia epidemic and the international environment have become more severe and complex. my country's foreign trade development is still facing some unstable and uncertain factors, and there is still a lot of pressure to maintain stability and improve quality. However, the fundamentals of my country's economy with strong resilience, sufficient potential and long-term improvement have not changed. With the implementation of the country's package of policies and measures to stabilize the economy, and the orderly progress of resumption of work and production, my country's foreign trade is expected to continue to maintain steady growth.

Zhang Jianping said that the growth of foreign trade in the first half of this year is a bright spot in China's economy. This is due to the introduction of cross-cycle foreign trade stabilization policies by relevant departments at the beginning of the year, as well as the subsequent package of measures to stabilize foreign trade, which is also inseparable from the vast number of foreign trade enterprises in my country seizing opportunities in the global market. However, stabilizing foreign trade cannot be taken lightly. While seeing the rapid recovery of foreign trade, we also need to look at the complex and severe international environment.

The reporter observed that, affected by the geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the fluctuating global new crown pneumonia epidemic, the World Trade Organization has lowered its forecast for global trade growth this year from 4.7% to 3%. Countries are actively lifting restrictions not necessary for epidemic prevention, restoring trade routes, and smoothing global supply chains.

Zhang Jianping said that under the current situation, enterprises and relevant departments should actively and closely track changes in the global market. Among them, business associations should strive to help enterprises collect relevant trade information, conduct necessary analysis and sharing, help enterprises capture market growth points and effectively identify risks.

"In particular, we should pay attention to the coordination between foreign trade policies and inter-departmental coordination. We must adhere to the principle of systematic thinking, form a combination of foreign trade policies, and exert systematic synergy. On this basis, we must make good use of the huge market brought by RCEP. Opportunities to promote high-quality and stable growth of foreign trade." Zhang Jianping said.

According to Li Kuiwen, the next major measures of the General Administration of Customs are as follows:

First, ensure the smooth flow of logistics. The pilot program of "direct pick-up by ship" for imported goods and "direct loading upon arrival" for export goods will be promoted nationwide. The second is to promote the stability of the industrial chain and supply chain. Do a good job in ensuring the clearance of "whitelist" enterprises in key industrial chains and supply chains. The third is to take multiple measures to stabilize market players. Fourth, continue to optimize the port business environment. Deepen the construction of a "single window" for international trade, and consolidate the effect of shortening the overall customs clearance time.