General

On September 27, the State Council Information Office held a regular briefing on the policies of the State Council to introduce the support for the stable development of foreign trade. At the meeting, Wang Shouwen, international trade negotiator and vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce, said that in the second half of the year, foreign trade is confident that it will achieve positive growth, and that it will make positive contributions to the recovery of the national economy through the growth of foreign trade.

Foreign trade shows strong resilience and vitality

Foreign trade is one of the "troikas" driving economic growth, and it plays an important role in stabilizing the economy and promoting development. According to customs data, in the first eight months of this year, my country's import and export volume reached 27.3 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.1%, achieving rapid growth.

Wang Shouwen introduced that since the beginning of this year, the State Council has issued a series of policies and measures to stabilize the economy and foreign trade. These measures have achieved good results, and my country's foreign trade has shown strong resilience and vitality. According to customs data, from January to August, my country's mechanical and electrical products accounted for 56.5% of its foreign trade exports, and the competitiveness of high-value-added and high-tech products continued to manifest. According to customs data, my country's auto exports from January to August this year increased by 57.6%, and solar cell exports increased by 92.6%. This is a reflection of the relatively solid foundation and good competitiveness of the foreign trade industry.

But at the same time, according to customs data, my country's foreign trade import and export growth rate in August fell by 7.9 percentage points compared with July. Some companies have reported that the volume of foreign trade orders is also declining. In this regard, Wang Shouwen said that foreign trade is indeed facing some new uncertainties, and the growth of external demand is slowing down, which is the biggest uncertainty facing my country's current foreign trade.

"At present, the economic growth of major economies such as the United States and Europe is slowing down. In September, the Federal Reserve predicted that the GDP of the United States will increase by 0.2% this year. The European Central Bank predicts that the economy of the euro zone will grow close to zero in the third and fourth quarters of this year." Wang Shouwen said, At present, Chinese enterprises report that orders are decreasing. It is true that import demand in some major markets is declining. In some major economies, inflation is high, and the crowding-out effect on general consumer goods is increasing.

In response, the State Council has issued a new round of policies to stabilize foreign trade. Many provinces across the country have also introduced practical and effective supporting measures, and established a "white list" system for foreign trade enterprises to provide key support.

"In general, although we are facing the background of slowing or even weakening external demand, we are still confident in achieving positive growth in foreign trade in the second half of the year, and we are confident in making positive contributions to the recovery of the national economy through the growth of foreign trade." Wang Shouwen Say.

To ensure timely delivery of foreign trade orders

At present, there are still three months before the end of the year, and some companies still have some uncertainties in the process of fulfilling the contract. How to help these foreign trade enterprises to ensure the performance of contracts and the timely delivery of foreign trade orders has become a hot spot of social concern.

"External demand is slowing now. After companies get orders, it is very important to ensure that the orders can be produced and delivered, and the produced products can be shipped out." Wang Shouwen said that on September 27, the Ministry of Commerce officially issued the "On Supporting Foreign Trade Stability". Several Measures for Growth", one of the important contents is to enhance the ability to perform foreign trade contracts and further develop the international market.

In terms of ensuring production, Wang Shouwen emphasized that all localities should strengthen the protection of foreign trade enterprises in terms of epidemic prevention, energy use, labor, logistics, etc., to ensure that key foreign trade enterprises do not have problems in epidemic prevention, and give full support when necessary to ensure that foreign trade orders are delivered in a timely manner.

"It can be said that the current traffic and logistics indicators related to foreign trade goods are stable and improving." Wang Shouwen mentioned that if a production enterprise has an epidemic, it is necessary to ensure that the products can be shipped out. The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Transport have established a close linkage channel to effectively ensure the smooth transportation of foreign trade goods.

In order to improve the level of my country's trade facilitation, the Ministry of Commerce has issued the "Reference on Standard Operating Procedures for Foreign Trade Imported Goods at Maritime, Air and Railway Ports", and will also work with relevant departments to clean up unreasonable charges at ports, strengthen the supervision of charging entities at maritime ports, and reduce the cost of foreign trade enterprises.

In addition, Wang Shouwen also pointed out that in terms of protecting key enterprises, my country has included foreign trade goods into the scope of important materials and fully guaranteed transportation needs; the Ministry of Commerce has established a large-scale backbone foreign trade enterprise contact system with relevant departments; "One-on-one" rescue and assistance to solve specific problems of foreign trade enterprises' production and performance.

Abandon trade protectionism and promote world economic development

As the only country to host the International Import Expo, the Chinese government attaches great importance to imports and actively expands imports. According to customs data, in 2021, China's total imports will be 2.69 trillion US dollars, accounting for 11.9% of the world's imports. From January to August this year, China imported US$1.82 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%.

Li Xingqian, director of the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, said that this year, my country has once again adjusted tariffs on 954 items of imported goods, optimized the list and workflow of cross-border e-commerce retail imported goods, and further released the import potential of consumer goods. In addition, in recent years, my country has identified 14 import trade promotion innovation demonstration zones. These demonstration zones actively carry out policy innovation, effectively promote the deep integration of import trade with industry and consumption, and also form their own advantages and characteristics.

It is reported that the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) released a report on September 26, which made a forecast for the world economy. According to forecasts, the global economy will grow by 3% this year and 2.2% next year. The U.S. economy grew 1.5% this year and 0.5% next year. The OECD report also forecasts the EU economy to grow by 3.1% this year and 0.3% next year.

"Looking forward to the next six months, the world economic situation is not as good as this year, and the European and American markets are not optimistic." Wang Shouwen said that in such an unfavorable world economic background, trade development is an important engine of economic growth, "We should abandon trade protectionism, Oppose investment protectionism, lower trade and investment barriers, and allow trade and investment to develop more, thereby promoting world economic development."

Wang Shouwen pointed out that according to the estimates of the WTO, if the world's unified market is divided into two independent and integrated groups, the world's GDP will drop by 5% for a long time. In this regard, my country will continue to adhere to opening up to the outside world. It will not only support Chinese enterprises to export and provide value-for-money products and services to the world market, but also welcome foreign products and services, as well as foreign enterprises to seek development opportunities in the Chinese market. win.