Ministry Of Commerce: Looking Forward To The Trend Of Foreign Trade In The Whole Year, Opportunities Outweigh Challenges

Ren Hongbin, Assistant Minister of Commerce, said at a recent State Council policy briefing that opportunities outweigh challenges in looking forward to the trend of foreign trade in the whole year. We are confident that through the solid and effective work of the national foreign trade system, we will achieve the goal of steady increase in volume and quality throughout the year.

Ren Hongbin said that since this year, the Ministry of Commerce, together with local governments and departments, has made great efforts to ensure the implementation of foreign trade policies, solidly promote the three major plans, namely, preferential import and export, integration of trade industry and smooth trade, so as to promote the innovative development of foreign trade and realize rapid growth of foreign trade. There are five main characteristics

First, the scale of import and export reached a record high in the same period. From January to may, in terms of RMB, import and export, export and import increased by 28.2%, 30.1% and 25.9% respectively on a year-on-year basis, which were the highest levels in the same period in a decade, and increased by 21.6%, 23.6% and 19.2% respectively compared with the same period in 2019.

Second, the structure is constantly optimized. The export share of central and western regions, private enterprises, mechanical and electrical products and general trade increased by 1.4, 3.7, 0.8 and 2.1 percentage points respectively.

Third, innovation and development have been steadily promoted. Cross border e-commerce and other new forms and modes of foreign trade are booming. The Ministry of Commerce has newly identified 105 National Foreign Trade Transformation and upgrading bases, with a total of 578. As we all know, the foreign trade transformation and upgrading base is also an important platform for the integration of trade and industry promoted by the Ministry of Commerce and relevant departments.

Fourth, support the stable recovery of the national economy. Trade in goods contributes more than 20% to economic growth.

Fifth, promote the recovery of the world economy and trade. According to the statistics of WTO, the international market share of China's import was 11.8% in the first quarter, an increase of 1.4% over the same period last year, which is also the highest level of China's import share in the same period. Since March, the monthly growth rate of import has been higher than that of export, and domestic demand has played a more powerful role in promoting global trade.

Ren Hongbin pointed out that the success of foreign trade was mainly due to the significant strategic achievements made by China in coordinating epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development. A series of national policies for stabilizing foreign trade continued to take effect. This is the result of the joint efforts of all localities, departments and foreign trade enterprises. Compared with the past, this year has four stage factors, which play a strong role in promoting the development of foreign trade. First, the "housing economy" products and order backflow have boosted the export growth rate by about 18 percentage points. Second, commodity prices rose, pushing up import growth by more than 6 percentage points. Third, the "local Lunar New Year" has increased the growth rate of import and export by about 4 percentage points. Fourth, the low base factor of last year increased the growth rate of import and export by 6.6 percentage points.

Looking forward to the trend of foreign trade in the whole year, Ren Hongbin said that foreign trade development faces opportunities and challenges, but we believe that opportunities outweigh challenges. At present, the number of people diagnosed with new coronal pneumonia every day has dropped to more than 400000, and the recovery of world economy and trade is speeding up. In June, the World Bank predicted global economic growth of 5.6% this year, 1.6 percentage points higher than the forecast at the beginning of the year. According to a recent questionnaire survey conducted by the Ministry of Commerce, about 40% of foreign trade enterprises signed new export orders, showing signs of improvement in foreign demand and enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises. We are confident that through the solid and effective work of the national foreign trade system, we will achieve the goal of steady increase in volume and quality throughout the year. At the same time, China's foreign trade development situation is still complex. From the international perspective, the global epidemic situation is still grim, the economic recovery is uncertain, the risk of industrial chain supply chain is increasing, and the political tendency of trade issues is intensifying.

From the domestic point of view, China's foreign trade enterprises are facing four major difficulties: first, the international shipping efficiency is low and the price is high; Second, the fluctuation of RMB exchange rate has increased, and enterprises have "dare not take orders and export is not profitable"; Third, the price of raw materials has risen to raise the cost of enterprises. For example, from January to may, the average import price of iron ore and copper and gold mine increased by 75% and 45% respectively; Fourth, it is difficult and expensive to recruit workers in some areas.

In the next step, we will closely follow the changes in the situation at home and abroad, and work out policies and measures to address the outstanding difficulties faced by foreign trade enterprises. The first is to strengthen international economic and trade cooperation, participate constructively in global economic governance, promote multilateral and bilateral regional rule negotiations, build a high-standard network of free trade zones, and carefully prepare for the fourth China International Import Expo, so that global enterprises can share China's development opportunities. Second, promote the "belt and road" construction with high quality, steadily expand Silk Road e-commerce partner countries, run the 130th Canton Fair, and promote market diversification. Third, accelerate the development of new forms and models of foreign trade and cultivate new driving forces for foreign trade. Fourth, develop high-quality and innovative foreign trade industrial clusters to promote the integration of trade and industry.